HEALTH

Antibiotics

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to promote the discovery of new antibiotics in the last year.

Norman Lamb: We are actively encouraging further drug development and pressing for greater research collaboration at an international level.
	One of the seven key areas that our forthcoming UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and Action Plan will focus on will be facilitating and encouraging the development of new drugs, vaccines and other immunotherapeutics.

Billing

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of undisputed invoices are paid by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) each NHS trust within five days.

Daniel Poulter: 90.63% of undisputed invoices were paid by the Department within five days in the current financial year (1 April 2012 to 31 January 2013). The equivalent figure for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is 93%.
	The Department does not hold the requested information in respect of national health service bodies. However, NHS trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities are required to comply with the Better Payment Practice Code target of paying 95% of undisputed invoices within contract terms, or 30 days where no terms have been agreed.

Care Quality Commission

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the adequacy of the Care Quality Commission inspection arrangements in Oxfordshire.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social, care providers in England. The CQC is responsible for assessing and ensuring the quality of its inspection and monitoring of specific providers on a day to day basis. The CQC publish reports following its inspections on its website.
	The Department monitors the CQC financial and operational performance and risks at both a general and strategic level through regular formal accountability meetings. The Department does not assess the CQC's inspection or monitoring arrangements of specific health and adult social care providers or in specific geographical areas.
	The CQC advises the Department at the start of each financial year, as part of its business plan, how many inspections it has scheduled to carry out over the forthcoming financial year. The CQC also publishes an overall assessment of the inspections it has carried out during the previous year in the State of Care Report. The last report was published on 22 November 2012.
	The CQC has provided the following information about the number of inspections it has carried out in Oxfordshire. As of 5 March 2013, there have been 257 inspections, at 232 locations, in Oxfordshire since 1 April 2012.

Christchurch Hospital

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on how much the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Trust spent on (a) lobbying Christchurch borough council, (b) paid advertising and (c) leaflets, banners and other promotional materials in connection with a proposed development in the Christchurch hospital conservation area.

Anna Soubry: This is a matter for the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
	We have written to the trust’s chair, Jane Stichbury, informing her of your inquiries. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

College of Paramedics

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will visit the College of Paramedics in Bridgwater.

Daniel Poulter: The Department's ministerial team undertake a large number of visits each year to a range of health and care settings across the whole country and would be happy to consider a visit to the College of Paramedics in Bridgwater in the future.

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that primary care professionals are familiar with the up-to-date guidance on diagnosing and managing people with deep vein thrombosis.

Daniel Poulter: It is for primary care professionals to ensure their own professional competence in regard to venous thrombroembolism (VTE), and to have regard to the clinical guidelines and Quality Standards on VTE published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The national VTE prevention programme encourages all clinicians to familiarise themselves with NICE guidance on the diagnosis and management of VTE and recommends use of the VTE Prevention e-Learning module which has been endorsed by a wide cross section of the United Kingdom medical community.

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of deep vein thrombosis have been (a) diagnosed and (b) misdiagnosed in primary care settings in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not available.

Drugs: Misuse

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the comments made by the chief medical officer that people who take illegal drugs should not be treated as criminals reflects Government policy.

Anna Soubry: Professor Sally Davies gave evidence to the Science and Technology Committee on 23 January 2013. The Select Committee’s records show the comment made in relation to illegal drug use was:
	“....there is an evidence base about how we should treat it as a health issue, even if you want to criminalise it as well.”
	Government policy is to treat illegal drug use both as a health and criminal justice issue.

Exercise: Young People

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research and data collection relating to (a) sport and (b) physical activity amongst young people his Department has (i) initiated, (ii) terminated and (iii) amended since May 2010.

Anna Soubry: In November 2012, the Department initiated a call for research proposals on physical activity. The scope of the research initiative covers research relating to physical activity among young people. It is anticipated that awards will be made in July 2013.
	Since May 2010 the Department has contributed to the following which produce information on sport and physical activity among young people:
	The Health Survey for England carried out in 2012 included a Department-funded module which collected information on physical activity (including sport) for adults, children and young people. Results are due at the end of 2013.
	The Department contributes to the Active People Survey which is run by Sports England. It includes collection of data on sports and physical activity for people aged 16 and over. Survey questions have recently been amended to include a wider range of physical activity, specifically dance and gardening. Sports England has extended the survey to 14 and 15-year-olds and data collection started in July 2012.
	The Health Behaviours in School-aged Children in England 2010 study, which was Department funded, collected information on physical activity, including sport. The Department is committed to co-funding the next study to be carried out in 2014 which is expected to again cover physical activity.
	The Department's Lifecourse Tracker collects information on health behaviours, including physical activity, from adults and young people (aged 11 to 17 years). The first wave of this survey was carried out in March 2012 and the second in September 2012.
	The Department has not terminated any research or data collection on sports and physical activity among young people since May 2010.

Fish

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government still offers guidance to eat two portions of fish a week; and what steps he is taking to promote any such guidance.

Anna Soubry: The Government continues to advise people to eat two portions of fish a week, including a portion of oily fish. This population guideline recommendation is based on a serving of 140 grams.
	The Government's fish recommendations are promoted through NHS Choices, Change4Life and is included in the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.

General Practitioners: Cambridge

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 725W, on general practitioners: Cambridge, for what reasons the amount allocated is not based on population figures.

Daniel Poulter: The NHS Commissioning Board adopted a uniform 2.3% uplift for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) because of concerns that, when combined with the estimated CCG baselines, the population-based formula implied a movement of resources away from areas with the worst health outcomes towards those with the best. The formula was recommended by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation.
	The board is undertaking a review of its approach to allocations, with initial findings available to inform 2014-15 allocations.

Heart Diseases: Children

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Independent Reconfiguration Panel will publish its findings of the Safe and Sustainable review into children’s heart surgery services before his Department publishes such a response.

Anna Soubry: The Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) is currently due to report to the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), no later than 28 March 2013.
	As is routine, the IRP will publish its report on the same day the Secretary of State for Health makes his decision public, and after he has had the opportunity to consider the panel’s report and recommendations in full.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that age factors do not negatively affect access for new medicines for older people living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Norman Lamb: The Government is committed to ensuring all patients are treated fairly, with dignity and respect, which is why from October 2012 we introduced a ban on unjustifiable age discrimination. Decisions about treatment should be based on patient's ability to benefit, not their chronological age.

Ionizing Radiation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies have been commissioned by the Health Protection Agency into the differential deleterious effects on (a) males and (b) females of exposure to ionising radiation; and if he will publish the uniform resource locators to any such studies on his departmental website.

Anna Soubry: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has conducted three original studies that include consideration of the differential effects on males and females of exposure to ionising radiation. The following reports are the outcomes of the three studies mentioned above and they consider health risks associated with exposure to ionising radiation, largely cancer, for males and females separately.
	These include:
	The third analysis of the National Registry for Radiation Workers HPA-RPD-062,
	www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/HPARPDSeriesReports/HPARPD062/
	Cancers in the offspring of female radiation workers HPA-RPD-063,
	www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/HPARPDSeriesReports/HPARPD063/
	and
	Risks associated with medical x-ray examinations HPA-CRCE-028,
	www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/CRCEScientificAndTechnicalReportSeries/HPACRCE028/

Mass Media

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 November 2012, Official Report, column 580W, on mass media, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish information relating to meetings since 1 September 2012 on that website; and for what reasons that answer did not follow the practice described by the Leader of the House in the answer of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 649W, on written questions.

Daniel Poulter: Information for the period July to September 2012 has now been published and can be accessed at:
	https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/transparency/files/2013/02/Ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-external-meetings-July-September-2012.pdf
	Information for the period October to December 2012 is being compiled for publication.
	This Government is the most transparent ever and is publishing more information than ever before on a regular basis.

Muscular Dystrophy

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on funding of research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has had no such discussions.
	A three-year project on advanced antisense oligonucleotide technology for exon skipping in Duchenne muscular dystrophy started in March 2011. The Department is contributing £1.5 million to this project, with joint funding from the Wellcome Trust.

NHS: Competition

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Minister in his Department approved the National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) Regulations (S.I., 2013, No. 257).

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer given by the Minister of State for Health to the hon. Member for Walsall South on 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 844, on the NHS Commissioning Board, which Minister in his Department considered the original section 75 regulations and signed them off before they were laid before parliament.

Anna Soubry: The National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) Regulations 2013 were approved by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Earl Howe).

NHS: Redundancy Pay

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  with reference to the supplementary written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee from his Department of 14 April 2011, on NHS Foundation Trusts' special severance payments, if he will place in the Library the submission made to his Department in respect of the £150,000 special severance payment made by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2010-11;
	(2)  with reference to the supplementary written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee from his Department of 14 April 2011, on NHS Foundation Trusts' special severance payments, if he will place in the Library the submission made to his Department in respect of the £158,726 special severance payment made by Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust in 2008-09;
	(3)  with reference to the supplementary written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee from his Department of 14 April 2011, on NHS Foundation Trusts' special severance payments, if he will place in the Library the submission made to his Department in respect of the £170,000 and £150,000 special severance payments made by Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2009-10;
	(4)  with reference to the supplementary written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee from his Department of 14 April 2011, on NHS Foundation Trusts' special severance payments, if he will place in the Library the submission made to his Department in respect of the £190,000 special severance payment made by South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in 2010-11;
	(5)  if he will place in the Library the submission of the business case made to his Department in respect of the severance agreement reached with Martin Yates, former chief executive of Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust in 2009.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold the requested information. Severance cases by foundations trusts are submitted to Monitor and HM Treasury who would hold such information.

North East

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department intend to visit a hospital or GP surgery north of Darlington; and when the last visit by Ministers in his Department was to the north east of England before 18 October 2012.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has no current plans to visit Darlington but we would be happy to consider if such an invitation should be received.
	The Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), is scheduled to visit Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust's new Forensic Mental Health and Forensic Learning Disability expansion in the near future.
	I have visited the Darlington Memorial Hospital and the St Teresa's Hospice, Darlington on 18 October 2012. I am intending to visit Penrith & Carlisle and Hexham and Newcastle in the near future.
	The last visit prior to 18 October 2012 was by the former Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow) to the Care Quality Commission offices in Newcastle upon Tyne on the 9 March 2012.

Older People: Housing

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to facilitate the development of more extra care residential housing facilities for older people; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Department announced in October 2012 that up to £300 million of capital funding would be made available over five years to support the development of specialist housing for older people and adults with disabilities.

Palliative Care

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2013, Official Report, column 445W, on palliative care, when he plans to (a) begin and (b) evaluate the progress made in implementing the end-of-life care strategy.

Norman Lamb: As set out in the answer given on 26 February 2013, Official Report, column 445W, we are committed to moving towards a national choice offer to enable people to be cared for and to die at home if they so wish to. This depends on progress in implementing the National End of Life Care Strategy. We have said that we plan to review this in 2013, and departmental officials are currently determining how best to undertake this. We published the fourth annual report on progress of the strategy in October 2012.

Pet Foods

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what checks are carried out on pet food to ensure that all pet food sold in the UK is safe and fully matches the trade description.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency is the central competent authority responsible for the majority of the European Union harmonised legislation on animal feed, which covers feed for all species and categories of animal including pets. This includes Regulation (EC) 183/2005 on feed hygiene and Regulation (EC) 767/2009 on marketing and use. These regulations deal with the safe manufacture of feed and its composition and labelling. Local authorities enforce the legislation and include checks on feed safety management systems at pet food manufacturers during their inspections and undertake sampling and analysis of pet food to verify the accuracy of its labelling.
	In addition, all plants producing pet food comprising animal by-products are subject to approval and regular inspection by the Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency under Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 on animal by-products to ensure that the material used is suitable for pet food is handled safely and, where appropriate, is processed to the standards required by the regulation. Pet food may also be subject to regular random sampling to ensure it meets the standards for microbiological safety set down in the regulation.

Prescription Drugs

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the appropriateness of existing regulations on the categories of person empowered to write prescriptions for drugs, with special regard to paramedics.

Norman Lamb: Extending prescribing responsibilities to non-medical professions has brought benefits to patient care and choice.
	The Department will work jointly with the NHS Commissioning Board to continue to explore on a case-by-case basis the potential for extending prescribing responsibilities to further non-medical health care professions.

Prescription Drugs

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether value-based pricing places appropriate value on the improvement of the quality of life and outcomes for older patients when assessing appropriate treatments.

Norman Lamb: Through value-based pricing, the Government's aim is to ensure that an assessment of the value of a new medicine is capable of recognising a broad range of benefits and costs, including impacts on health outcomes and quality of life, for people of all ages.

Thromboembolism

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of people with suspected venous thromboembolic diseases whose diagnostic investigations are completed within 24 hours of first clinical suspicion.

Daniel Poulter: We have made no estimate of the kind described.

Thromboembolism

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to continue the National Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Programme from April 2013.

Daniel Poulter: No, although we expect the programme to continue within the national health service. Responsibility for the programme passes to the NHS Commissioning Board in April 2013. It will continue to be led by the current National Clinical Director for Venous Thromboembolism, Dr Mike Durkin, in his new role of Director of Patient Safety.

Warm Homes Healthy People Fund

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Warm Homes Healthy People fund will be available in 2014-15 for local authorities to access funding for measures to improve carbon monoxide safety.

Anna Soubry: There is no commitment to provide funding to local authorities from the Warm Homes Healthy People (WHHP) fund in future years, and any decision to do so would be subject to availability of funding and ministerial approval.
	However, we are transferring funding to local authorities for public health from April 2013, and it will be for local decision makers to invest in programmes aimed at reducing deaths due to cold weather, including the provision of carbon monoxide alarms, using the driver of the Public Health Outcomes Framework, as appropriate to local needs.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing: Construction

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new starts of affordable housing there were in (a) England and (b) each region of England in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: The numbers of affordable homes started in each local authority district in England (excluding London) in 2010-11 and 2011-12 were reported in the Homes and Communities Agency's Housing Statistics, published on 16 November 2012.
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics
	From the 1 April 2012, the Mayor of London has had strategic oversight of housing, regeneration and economic development in London. The numbers of affordable homes started in each London borough in 2010-11 and 2011-12 can be found on the Greater London Authority website.
	http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing/affordable-housing/statistics
	These statistics only cover affordable housing that is delivered through the affordable housing programmes of the Homes and Communities Agency and the Greater London Authority; affordable housing delivered outside these programmes is not included.

EU Grants and Loans: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 781W, on EU grants and loans, what the outstanding applications from the UK for European Regional Development funding are which relate to London and which have not yet been granted; when he expects these projects to receive funding; and if will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 March 2013. Answering this question would incur disproportionate cost as it would involve interrogating a large number of separate projects, whose status and progress through the application process changes daily.

Grants

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the comparable value of grants given by his Department to someone living in (a) an urban area and (b) a rural area.

Brandon Lewis: DCLG does not pay grants to individuals.
	The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2013-14 is fair to all parts of the country—rural and urban. It is the first settlement that reflects an entirely new financial relationship between central and local government, providing incentive for all councils to increase their incomes. We made a number of adjustments to relative needs formulae to reflect the greater cost of providing services in rural areas, and we have introduced a new £8.5 million efficiency support grant for services in sparse areas in 2013-14.

Housing: Taxation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he proposes that local authorities will be empowered to levy affordable housing levies on self-build developments after April 2014.

Mark Prisk: A Section 106 planning obligation is sought, negotiated and applied locally by the local planning authority and may include an affordable housing requirement. There are no current Government proposals to change the ability of local planning authorities to seek a Section 106 agreement to help fund affordable housing.
	We have introduced reforms to help developers and landowners renegotiate economically unrealistic affordable housing requirements in Section 106 agreements, and to deliver more private and affordable housing than would otherwise be the case.
	As the Minister for Planning, my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles), outlined in his answer to the hon. Member of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 583W, the Community Infrastructure Levy was a measure introduced under the last Administration, although the Government continues to listen to issues raised by those charging and paying it and has already reformed how it operates.
	We are currently reviewing what further steps can be taken to ensure that self-build housing and genuine small-scale development is not being adversely affected by the introduction of the Levy.

Housing: Taxation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities are levying an affordable housing levy on housing developments of fewer than five properties.

Nicholas Boles: This information is not centrally held.
	A Section 106 planning obligation is sought, negotiated and applied locally by the local planning authority and may include an affordable housing requirement.
	We have introduced reforms to help developers and landowners renegotiate economically unrealistic affordable housing requirements in Section 106 agreements, and to deliver more private and affordable housing than would otherwise be the case.

Housing: Taxation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether an economic viability assessment will be mandatory for local authorities after April 2014 on (a) the community infrastructure levy and (b) the affordable housing levy.

Nicholas Boles: The Community Infrastructure Levy is proposed locally by a local planning authority and already requires economic viability evidence which is subject to public consultation and independent examination prior to any charge being adopted.
	Section 106 agreements, which may contain an affordable housing requirement, are subject to negotiation between the local planning authority and the developer or landowner.
	We have introduced reforms to help developers and landowners renegotiate economically unrealistic affordable housing requirements in Section 106 agreements, and to deliver more private and affordable housing than would otherwise be the case.

Social Rented Housing

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration his Department has given to allowing councils and other bodies housing pensioners being given incentives to downsize to smaller social housing properties, with particular reference to (a) financial incentives and (b) priority in bidding for smaller properties; and whether such incentives have also be considered for people below pensionable age.

Mark Prisk: We have made it easier for all social tenants to downsize to more suitable accommodation by increasing mobility, through changes to the housing allocation rules in the Localism Act 2011 and the introduction of a national mutual exchange scheme, “HomeSwap” Direct.
	In addition, statutory social housing allocations guidance for local authorities issued last June advises them of the importance of giving existing social tenants who are under-occupying their accommodation appropriate priority for a transfer.
	We have also provided £7.8 million in 2011-13 to help local authorities support under-occupying social tenants who wish to move, as well as funding a team of advisers in the Chartered Institute of Housing to offer expert support to landlords to tackle under-occupation.
	Many local authorities and social landlords already operate schemes which provide incentives and assistance to encourage and assist older tenants to move to smaller, more manageable, properties when their current home has outgrown their needs.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 936W, on social rented housing, if he will place in the Library the data he holds for each local authority on the number of new lettings of (a) one bedroomed socially rented housing units and (b) two bedroomed socially rented housing units made to existing tenants in the socially rented sector within the last 12 months.

Mark Prisk: A table giving the number of new lettings of one and two bedroom general needs social rent properties made to existing social tenants in each local authority district in 2011-12 has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The dataset this table, is derived from is incomplete, and is estimated to cover around 78% of total local authority lettings. The table also excludes supported housing and affordable rent lettings.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Written Questions

Tom Watson: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 649W, on written questions, when he last communicated guidance on the practice of answering parliamentary questions by reference to Government websites to the Office of the Prime Minister.

Andrew Lansley: All parliamentary branches across Whitehall were sent the answer provided to the hon. Gentleman, together with the relevant section of the guidance, on 13 February 2013, by my Office.
	Parliamentary branches are regularly reminded of the existence of the guidance, most recently at a meeting of the Parliamentary Clerks Working Group on 8 February 2013.

PRIME MINISTER

Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Children Review

Christopher Chope: To ask the Prime Minister when he appointed his adviser on the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood; and what the terms of reference of the appointee are.

David Cameron: I refer my hon. Friend to the press notice issued by my office on 20 December 2012 which is available on the No. 10 website. A copy has been placed in both Libraries of the House.

Mass Media

Helen Goodman: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 6 November 2012, Official Report, column 519W, on mass media, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish information relating to meetings; and for what reasons that answer did not follow the practice described by the Leader of the House in the answer of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 649W, on written questions.

David Cameron: Details of meetings with external organisations, including meetings with newspaper and other media proprietors, editors and senior executives, for the period covering July 2012 have been published.
	On the second part of the hon. Member's question, there has been no change in the practice followed by my immediate predecessor.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Serious Fraud Office

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many and what proportion of officials at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the SFO for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Oliver Heald: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
			 Resigned (1)87 
			 Voluntary early retirement 2 
			 Left for alternative employment (1)20 
			 Dismissed 6 
			 Long-term sick leave 43 
			 Administrative leave 1 
			 (1) The SFO does not have complete figures for these two categories. The 20 recorded as leaving for alternative employment are those who left and joined other Government Departments, and these are in addition to the 87 who resigned and did not join other Departments. It is not known how many of those 87 were resigning because they were leaving for alternative employment.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Chilterns

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Natural Capital Committee has provided advice to the Government on protecting and enhancing the Chilterns Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 30 November 2012, Official Report, column 570W.

Bakery Products: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential effect on people in Scotland of amending the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 to remove the requirement to add calcium, iron, thiamine and niacin from bread and flour produced in England.

David Heath: DEFRA is currently reviewing national rules relating to bread and flour as they apply to England. We have issued a public consultation seeking views on possible deregulatory options which began on 16 January 2013 and this closes on 13 March 2013. One of the issues covered in the consultation is the impact which changes in flour manufacture might have on consumers of English-made flour who live elsewhere in the UK. The Government will consider any further action it might take in the light of responses received.

Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of measures in the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to update the legal powers and penalties available for offences under this Act.

David Heath: Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, it is an offence to allow a dog to worry livestock. The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding level 3 (£1,000) on the standard scale. This is reinforced by the Animals Act 1971 which states that where a dog causes damage by killing or injuring livestock, the keeper of the dog is liable for the damage. I am aware that the definition of livestock in the 1953 Act does not extend to camelids such as llamas, but there is no evidence to suggest that these animals are subject to significant numbers of dog attacks. Where such an incident occurs, it could be dealt with under existing law such as the Dogs Act 1871, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and in some cases the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and appropriate action taken including having the dog destroyed and the owner prosecuted.

Floods: Insurance

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what substantive discussions he has had in the last two weeks with the insurance industry with regard to flood risk insurance.

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  on what dates (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have met with representatives of the insurance industry to discuss flood insurance since 1 January 2013;
	(2)  when he expects to make an announcement on the future of flood insurance.

Richard Benyon: I refer the hon. Members to my previous answer of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 407W.

Fracking

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to monitor decommissioned fracking sites; and what legislative powers are available to rectify water table and soil contamination caused by fracking sites.

John Hayes: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	There are a range of controls in place in the UK to prevent contamination of water resources and soils by hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The relevant environmental agency (for England and Wales—the Environment Agency and for Scotland—the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) must be consulted on all oil and gas drilling proposals to ensure that any operations carried out do not pose unacceptable risks to the environment, including any risk of contamination of local soil or water sources. Furthermore a mineral planning authority may impose planning conditions to ensure that any minerals extraction does not have an unacceptable adverse impact on the natural environment.
	Upon decommissioning any well, oil and gas operators are under legal obligations to plug the well, clean up the site and return the site to its original state.
	In particular, Schedule 5 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 gives minerals planning authorities the power to impose planning conditions on mineral operators to provide for site restoration and aftercare with their application for minerals extraction (including shale gas). This is to ensure clearance of equipment and for proper restoration of the site once operations have ceased. For sites that are to be returned to agriculture, forestry or amenity purposes, there is an obligation on the mineral operator to look after the site for a maximum period of five years once restoration has been completed.
	Operators will also need to consider decommissioning as part of the standard conditions placed on them as part of their environmental permits under the Environmental Permitting regulations 2010. Permit surrender is not possible until sites have been returned to satisfactory conditions.
	Assessment of the satisfactory completion of these actions and any necessary further monitoring would be carried out by the planning authority or relevant environment agency as appropriate.
	For the longer term, DECC is working with the UK Onshore Operators Group to put in place a robust scheme to ensure that abandoned wells remain safe and which satisfies, and can be incorporated within, site restoration and remediation agreements under the planning process.
	As regards legislative powers to rectify water table contamination, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Richard Benyon), on 26 February 2013, Official Report, column 393W.

Hares

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the recommendations on voluntary measures to ensure appropriate welfare for brown hares will be published.

Richard Benyon: The good practice guidelines are an industry-led initiative and the timing of the publication is in stakeholders' hands. I have been told that they aim to publish very soon.

Leatherhead Food Research

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contact (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with Leatherhead Food Research since May 2010.

David Heath: holding answer 7 March 2013
	DEFRA maintains regular contact between its officials and employees of Leatherhead Food Research through research projects, participation in workshops, training sessions and engagement via advisory groups. Given this level of engagement, it is not feasible to provide any detailed data on contact within the time scale requested.

Staff

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff his Department employed in each of the past five years; how many such staff were employed in London; how many such staff were employed in other regions of England; how many posts moved from London to these regions; and what steps he is taking to move his staff to regional offices.

Richard Benyon: The number of staff employed in core DEFRA on 31 March in each of the last five years and broken down by those employed in London and those employed elsewhere, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  London Other regions Total 
			 Date Full-time equivalent Head count Full-time equivalent Head count Full-time equivalent Head count 
			 31 March 2009 1,850 1,900 701 738 2,551 2,638 
			 31 March 2010 1,954 2,015 562 594 2,516 2,609 
			 31 March 2011 1,916 1,980 541 573 2,457 2,553 
			 31 March 2012 1,491 1,538 593 626 2,085 2,164 
			 31 January 2013 1,455 1,502 614 647 2,068 2,149 
		
	
	Information on the number of core DEFRA posts that have moved from London to other regions could be provided only by incurring disproportionate cost. There are currently no plans to move core DEFRA staff based in London to regional offices.
	All figures have been rounded to nearest whole number.

Tobacco

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information he holds on the subsidies which have been paid by the EU for the growing or production of tobacco in each of the last 10 years.

David Heath: The EU tobacco regime was reformed in 2004 so that, among other things, direct payments to farmers linked to the production of tobacco would be phased out over the period 2006 to 2010. The effect can be seen in the following table which is based on EU budget out-turn data for those direct payments:
	
		
			  € million 
			 2005 918 
			 2006 811 
			 2007 335 
			 2008 301 
			 2009 301 
			 2010 296 
			 2011 (1)2.4 
			 2012 (1)0.5 
			 2013 (2)0.5 
			 (1) Figures for 2011 and 2012 are believed to be in respect of residual payments related to applications under schemes prior to 2011. (2) Figures for 2013 represent the budget allocation. 
		
	
	Similar data prior to 2005 is not available.

Turtles: Cayman Islands

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Cayman Islands government to ensure that the Cayman Turtle Farm fulfils its commitment to improve its conditions.

Richard Benyon: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer given on 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 818W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew).

TRANSPORT

Air Passenger Duty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 685W, on air passenger duty, if he will provide a list of meetings he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other Ministers in the Treasury in which air passenger duty was discussed in the last 12 months.

Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 685W. The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), meets with the Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of his day to day business, during which a wide range of issues are discussed. Decisions on taxation, including air passenger duty, are taken by the Chancellor.

Air Passenger Duty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 648W, on air passenger duty, what meetings he has had with representatives of the travel industry, airlines and airports in which air passenger duty was discussed in the last 12 months.

Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 685W. The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), has had no meetings with representatives of the travel industry, airlines and airports which were called specifically to discuss air passenger duty. The full list of meetings that he and other Ministers have had with aviation stakeholders is available at
	www.data.gov.uk
	Decisions on taxation, including air passenger duty, are taken by the Chancellor.

Buses

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he estimates all (a) single-deck and (b) double-deck buses will be fully accessible.

Norman Baker: The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) require all new buses and coaches, used to provide local or scheduled services and designed to carry more than 22 passengers, to be accessible to disabled passengers.
	All existing buses and coaches used to provide local or scheduled services will have to comply with PSVAR by end dates between 2015 and 2020, depending on vehicle type. The end dates are 1 January 2015 for single deck buses weighing 7.5 tonnes or less, 1 January 2016 for single deck buses weighing more than 7.5 tonnes and 1 January 2017 for double deck buses. The end date for coaches is 2020.
	At November 2012, 69% of all buses in Great Britain met the PSVAR requirements.

Crossrail Line

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with Network Rail and Transport for London about extending the proposed route for Crossrail 2 to (a) Harlow and (b) Stansted Airport;
	(2)  what role his Department has played in developing the proposed route for Crossrail 2.

Stephen Hammond: The Government has made no decision in relation to Crossrail 2, and the scheme is currently unfunded. Under devolution, the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) are responsible for transport in London, including the current route options for Crossrail 2. The Department continues to work with Network Rail and the rail industry on its long-term planning process which is considering future rail services to Stansted and other major airports.

Driving Tests

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether new applicants have to be able to read and write to pass the tests necessary to get a driving licence.

Stephen Hammond: The driving test consists of a theory test of road safety knowledge and hazard perception, and a practical test of driving ability. We recognise that candidates who cannot read or write may find parts of the testing regime challenging. The Driving Standards Agency, therefore, works with special education needs (SEN) stakeholders to review the way we interact with candidates, including those with difficulties reading and writing, and has made adjustments to accommodate them, whilst maintaining the integrity of the test and seeking to ensure the standard of road safety is not adversely affected.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the number of homes within (a) 10, (b) 50, (c) 100 and (d) 500 metres of the published preferred route of phase two of High Speed 2 in (i) Stafford constituency, (ii) Staffordshire and (iii) England.

Simon Burns: We currently estimate that there would be approximately 3,300 dwellings within 100 metres of the surface route and the provisional station and depot construction boundaries on the Manchester and Leeds legs of the route. We do not currently have an estimate for (i) Stafford Constituency or (ii) Staffordshire.
	The Department has made no estimate of the number of homes within (a) 10, (b) 50, and (d) 500 metres of the published preferred route of phase two of High Speed 2 in (i) Stafford constituency, (ii) Staffordshire and (iii) England.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assumptions were made in his Department's business case for High Speed 2 of available connectivity of mobile voice and data services along the route.

Simon Burns: The business case for HS2 does not make any assumptions about the available connectivity of mobile voice and data services along the route.
	It is too early to make detailed decisions now about the communications technology that will be needed in the late 2020s and beyond.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what criteria were used by HS2 Limited to determine whether mitigation proposals should be included within the forthcoming High Speed 2 draft environmental impact assessment consultation; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what criteria were used by HS2 Limited to assess mitigation proposals for High Speed 2 Phase One; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The development of mitigation for HS2 Phase One is an ongoing exercise as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The EIA will identify the likely significant environmental effects of the scheme. Where these effects are adverse, HS2 Ltd's environmental specialists propose approaches to avoid or reduce as far as practicable these effects. The main factor that influences the development of appropriate mitigation for significant effects is value for money for the tax payer incorporating issues such as engineering feasibility, effectiveness of the mitigation, cost and the impact of mitigation on the benefits of the project, such as journey time or regeneration benefits.
	Draft information for the environmental statement, which will set out the emerging view of the likely significant environmental effects of the project and mitigation proposals, is due to be consulted upon in spring 2013. Mitigation proposals will continue to be refined in light of the consultation and the developing design before being finalised for deposit of the hybrid Bill by the end of the year.

London Underground

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in assessing the cost effectiveness of Crossrail 2, what estimate he has made of the percentage breakdown of current peak time usage of the London underground between (a) work and school commuting and (b) tourist and leisure travel.

Stephen Hammond: Under devolution, the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) are responsible for transport in London. The Secretary of State has made no independent assessment of the cost effectiveness of Crossrail 2 or estimates of the usage of the London underground.
	TfL produce regular reports on trends across London's transport network. The most recent (Travel in London Report 5) is available on TfL's website.

Mersey Gateway Project

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the use of UK industry and UK-sourced raw materials in the construction of the Mersey Gateway.

Norman Baker: The Government has made no assessment of the use of UK industry and UK-sourced raw materials in the construction of the Mersey Gateway, the procurement of which is the responsibility of the promoting authority—Halton Borough Council. We would hope that the scheme will be built using the maximum amount of UK labour and raw materials possible.

Motorways: Litter

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 694W, on motorways: litter 
	(1)  at what grade the hard shoulder lane on the M60 between the River Tame in Denton and Junction 23 in Audenshaw is currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure it is better kept clear of litter;
	(2)  at what grade the M67 Junction 1a slip roads in Denton are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(3)  at what grade the M60, M67 and A57 roundabout at Junction 24 in Denton is currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure it is better kept clear of litter;
	(4)  at what grade the M67 Junction 1 slip roads in Denton are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(5)  at what grade the M67 Junction 2 slip roads in Denton are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(6)  at what grade the M67 embankments between Junction 1 and the River Tame in Denton are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(7)  at what grade the M67 central reservations between Junction 1 and the River Tame in Denton are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(8)  at what grade the hard shoulder lane on the M67 between Junction 1 and the River Tame in Denton is currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure it is better kept clear of litter;
	(9)  at what grade the M60 Junction 24 slip roads in Denton are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(10)  at what grade the M60 Junction 23 slip roads in Audenshaw are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(11)  at what grade the M60 embankments between the River Tame in Denton and Junction 23 in Audenshaw are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter;
	(12)  at what grade the M60 central reservations between the River Tame in Denton and Junction 23 in Audenshaw are currently ranked; and what steps he is taking to ensure they are better kept clear of litter.

Stephen Hammond: Under the Code of Practice for Litter and Refuse, the locations along the M60 and M67 motorways, including the A57 circulatory carriageway at Junction 24 of the M60, are currently ranked at grade C (widespread distribution of litter and/or refuse with some minor accumulations).
	Work to remove litter from locations along the M60 and M67 has begun:
	M60 and M60 embankments between the River Tame and Junction 23
	Litter picking started between junctions 23 and 25 on 25 February. So far 60 bags of litter have been picked.
	M60/M67/A57 roundabout
	Litter picking was completed on 26 February where 20 bags of litter were removed from the inner verges of the roundabout. Tameside MBC is responsible for litter picking the remainder of the roundabout.
	M67 embankments between Junction 1 and the River Tame
	Litter picking is currently under way at this location, with 51 bags of litter removed to date.
	M67 central reserve between Junction 1 and the River Tame
	Litter picking was completed on 8 February where 65 bags of litter were removed.
	M67 hard shoulder between Junction 1 and the River Tame
	Litter picking of the hard shoulders of the M67 is planned to commence in approximately two weeks.
	Further litter picking on the other M60/M67 locations is currently being scheduled in accordance with timescales set out in the Code of Practice.

Shipping: Registration

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions have taken place between Ministers in his Department and their counterparts in the (a) Cabinet Office, (b) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and (c) Treasury on the UK ratifying the Maritime Labour Convention.

Stephen Hammond: Ministers from all these Departments are engaged in arrangements for the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

Transport: Yorkshire and the Humber

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2013, Official Report, column 685W, on Brigg, what information his Department holds on expenditure on transport projects in Yorkshire and the Humber in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2007-08, (c) 2006-07, (d) 2005-06, (e) 2004-05, (f) 2003-04, (g) 2002-03, (h) 2001-02 and (i) 2000-01.

Norman Baker: The information requested is shown in the following table. This includes a split between current and capital expenditure for all years.
	
		
			 Identifiable transport expenditure in Yorkshire and the Humber, 2000-01 to 2011-12 
			 £ millions 
			   of which: 
			 Financial year Total expenditure Capital Current 
			 2000-01 580 178 402 
			 2001-02 696 318 378 
			 2002-03 911 489 422 
			 2003-04 907 435 472 
			 2004-05 894 426 467 
			 2005-06 969 455 514 
			 2006-07 1,224 591 632 
			 2007-08 1,175 641 534 
			 2008-09 1,337 710 627 
			 2009-10 1,482 801 681 
			 2010-11 1,393 774 619 
			 2011-12 1,326 730 596 
			 Source: HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (2006 to 2012 editions) 
		
	
	In order to compile this table it has been necessary to consult several previous editions of the HM Treasury Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis (PESA). While the table presents the latest published figure for each year, HM Treasury advises all PESA users that data in previous PESA editions may not be fully consistent with the latest release due to changes in data coverage and classification changes.

West Coast Railway Line

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 14 February 2013, PQ 143634, when he expects to publish his Department's review of the available data and analysis.

Simon Burns: The publication of the review and analysis of data relating to the West Coast Main Line will be considered once the work has been done. The precise timing is to be determined.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Children: Abuse

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people of each age and gender have been arrested for possessing non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Browne: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Data on arrests are reported to the Home Office on the basis of aggregated offence groupings, for example sexual offences. From these centrally reported groupings, it is not possible to separately identify arrests for such a specific offence.

College of Policing

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the College of Policing to be established and begin operations.

Damian Green: The College of Policing was established and became operational on 1 December 2012.

Crime: Nature Conservation

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the comparable figures for levels of wildlife crime were in (a) 2001-02 and (b) 2012-13.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office does not have information on the levels of wildlife crime.
	Although the Home Office is responsible for police recorded crime statistics, these only consist of indictable and triable-either-way offences and do not include summary offences. The majority of wildlife crimes are summary offences and, as such, fall outside of the scope of the recorded crime statistics.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the financial effect of cybercrime to the (a) economy and (b) consumer.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 7 March 2013
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 10 January 2013, Official Report, column 418W.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to assess the effect of cybercrime.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 7 March 2013
	The UK Cyber Security Strategy, published on 25 November 2011, has an objective to tackle cyber crime and make the UK one of the most secure places in the world to do business. Improving our understanding of the effects of cyber crime is a key element of the strategy. This includes actions to improve law enforcement capability to understand cyber crime, international cooperation to promote better shared understanding of the threat and the creation of a single reporting mechanism for cyber and cyber-enabled crimes for citizens and small businesses. It also includes the development of closer partnerships with the private sector to improve information sharing on the threats to business.
	In the second year of the programme this work is well under way. For example, by April 2013, all police forces will have a single mechanism for reporting fraud and financially-motivated cyber crime to Action Fraud, which will provide a better understanding of the scale and changing nature of the threat and also the effect on victims. The creation of the National Crime Agency and, within it, a new National Cyber Crime Unit will build a stronger intelligence picture of the effects of cyber crime.

Food: Smuggling

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) dairy and (b) meat products from non-EU countries have been confiscated at UK borders in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: Data on the seizures of dairy and meat products are published by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in their Annual Review of Controls of Imports of Animal Products:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb13600-animal-products.pdf
	This report provides the total Products of Animal Origin (POAO) seizures for 2008-09 and 2009-10 and, for 2010-11, the POAO seizures from non-EU countries. Border Force is unable to provide further information on the split between EU and non-EU seizures for 2008-09 and 2009-10.
	Extracts of the relevant data you have requested are provided in the following tables:
	
		
			 Total meat and dairy seizures in 2008-09 and 2009-10 (without the breakdown by country regions) 
			  Meat Dairy 
			 Period Number of times seized Weight (kg) Volume (litres) Number of times seized Weight (kg) Volume (litres) 
			 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 11.356 76,903 n/a 6.304 53.372 16,405 
			 1 April 200 to 31 March 2010 12,943 87,714 n/a 9,108 47,260 1,467 
		
	
	
		
			 Meat and dairy seizures from non EU countries 2010-11 
			  Meat Dairy 
			 Period Number of times seized Weight (kg) Volume (litres) Number of times seized Weight (kg) Volume (litres) 
			 2010-11 8,368 30,928 n/a 6.227 59.489 764 
			 Note: Europe and region “unknown” are excluded from this summary. 
		
	
	The data for 2011-12 and 2012-13 have not yet been published by DEFRA although the 2011-12 data are due for publication shortly.

G8: Police

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with the Chief Constable of the Police Service in Northern Ireland on support from other police services in Great Britain for the policing of the forthcoming G8 Summit in County Fermanagh; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: holding answer 1 March 2013
	Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.

Human Trafficking

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle human trafficking.

Mark Harper: The Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group report, published as a Command Paper (CM8421) on 18 October 2012, provides a current and full assessment of the Government’s anti-trafficking efforts across the UK.

Human Trafficking

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps her Department has taken to support the victims of human trafficking.

Mark Harper: The Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group report, published as a Command Paper (CM8421) on 18 October 2012, provides a current and full assessment of the steps the Government is taking to support trafficking victims across the UK.

Human Trafficking

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings of the Joint Strategic Group on Human Trafficking have taken place to date; and which non-governmental organisations and Ministers attended each such meeting.

Mark Harper: The Joint Strategic Group met for the first time on 4 December 2012. The next meeting will take place on 12 March 2013. Ministers do not attend the Joint Strategic Group. The non-governmental organisations who attended the 4 December 2012 meeting are as follows:
	Migrant Helpline
	NSPCC
	Unseen UK
	ECPAT UK
	Anti-Slavery International
	The Salvation Army
	TARA

Human Trafficking

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will hold discussions with international organisations, including the United Nations and non-governmental organisations, to tackle human trafficking internationally.

Mark Harper: The Government works with national and international partners in the fight against human trafficking. Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.

Human Trafficking

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victims of human trafficking were identified in the UK in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Mark Harper: Potential victims of human trafficking are formally identified through the National Referral Mechanism. Data published by the UK Human Trafficking Centre show there were:
	(a) 710 referrals in 2010,
	(b) 946 referrals in 2011, and
	(c) 1,186 referrals in 2012.

Human Trafficking

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will consider introducing tougher sentences on perpetrators of human trafficking.

Mark Harper: The Government keeps the sentencing framework under constant review. Human trafficking offences already carry a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment.

Immigration

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which non-governmental organisations the Minister for Immigration has met since his appointment; and what the outcomes were of each such meeting.

Mark Harper: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.

Immigration

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward legislative proposals to limit access to (a) social housing, (b) healthcare, (c) benefits and (d) social care to Romanian and Bulgarian nationals when work restrictions on such nationals are lifted in 2014.

Mark Harper: A cross-government ministerial group is currently reviewing the arrangements for controlling all foreign nationals' access to benefits and public services.
	European nationals do not have unrestricted access to the UK—they must be working, studying or self-sufficient to be exercising their treaty rights under European law. There are already controls in place which limit the ability of economically inactive EEA nationals to access benefits, social housing and social care. The ministerial group is considering the scope for tightening these arrangements further.

Immigration

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the transitional controls negotiated by the Government in 2007 for immigration by Romanian and Bulgarian nationals.

Mark Harper: This Government announced in 2011 that the transitional restrictions applied to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals would be extended to the end of 2013. In taking that decision, the Government took account of the Migration Advisory Committee's assessment of the potential impact of lifting the existing restrictions, which is set out in its report of November 2011.

Immigration Controls

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures she has put in place to monitor performance of the UK Border Agency Employer Checking Service; what estimate she has made of the average time taken for the Employer Checking Service to perform a check; what assessment she has made of the ability of the UK Border Agency Employer Checking Service to meet its benchmark standard of five working days; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: holding answer 1 March 2013
	Management information is produced, by team, on a daily basis to record the number of outstanding Employer Checking Service (ECS) cases, the number of days it is taking to reach a decision and, if applicable, the number of applications that are currently outside service standards.
	These figures are management information. They are provisional and subject to change.
	Figures from 1 April 2012 to 28 February 2013 show that the average time it has taken to reach decisions is 5.42 working days. This is calculated as the average in any given period.
	100% of all decisions, where the employer receives a response that cannot confirm an entitlement to work, are sampled by the unit manager.
	As of 4 March 2013 the ECS team are working within their service standard of five working days.

Olympic Games 2012: Security

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 349W, on Olympic Games 2012: security, which police forces have been reimbursed for costs incurred in providing policing services to cover for G4S at the Olympic Games; how much each force has received; whether any payments are outstanding; and whether any interest has been paid.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 12 February 2013
	The costs repaid to police forces for the provision of police officers to undertake Olympic venue security duties in place of G4S are listed as follows. One claim remains, from West Midlands police for £1,116,985, which will be paid this week.
	
		
			 Police force Amount paid (£) 
			 Cambridgeshire 13,522 
			 Essex Police 2,361 
			 Greater Manchester Police 440,553 
			 Hampshire Constabulary 31,396 
			 Hertfordshire Constabulary (includes Bedfordshire Police) 255,707 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 145,664 
			 Norfolk Constabulary 32,705 
			 Northumbria Police 169,521 
			 Nottinghamshire Police 5,105 
			 South Wales Police 983,206 
			 Staffordshire Police 352,182 
			 Strathclyde Police 1,492,087 
			 Suffolk Constabulary 16,886 
			 Surrey Police 204,517 
			 Sussex Police 31,257 
			 Thames Valley Police 224,666 
			 Warwickshire Police 128,501 
			 West Mercia Constabulary 315,260

Police: Croydon

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 599W, on police: Croydon, why the decision to stop collecting police personnel data below force level from March 2011 was made; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 December 2012, Official Report, columns 695-96W.

Police: Job Satisfaction

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effect on police morale of the loss of special priority and competency related threshold payments; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the number of police officers in Cheshire who will lose (a) a special priority payment, (b) a competency related threshold payment and (c) both payments under her proposals on police pay.

Damian Green: The changes to special priority payments (SPP) and competence-related threshold payment (CRTP) are part of a wider programme of reform arising from Tom Winsor's Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions.
	These recommendations are about reforming pay and conditions so that pay is retargeted to recognise the hardest-working officers and reward professional skills and continued development, and include the introduction of unsocial hours and on-call allowances.
	I, along with other Ministers, maintain regular contact with police forces and officers to monitor the impact of these reforms.
	The proposals to remove SPP and CRTP were discussed in the police negotiating machinery, and we considered its recommendations very carefully. These considerations did not use estimates of the number of officers that would lose the payments in each force. Nationally, the Winsor review identified that 45 % of police officers in the federated ranks were in receipt of the SPP in England and Wales in 2008-09, and 33 % were in receipt of the CRTP. We do not hold information on how many officers will lose both payments.

Road Traffic Offences: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices were issued to motorists in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office does not centrally collect data on fixed penalty notices issued at constituency level.
	Available information relates to the total number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued for motoring offences by police in the Yorkshire and the Humber region between 2006 and 2010, and are given in the following table.
	Data for 2011 is scheduled for publication on 18 April 2013.
	
		
			 Number of fixed penalty notices issued for motoring offences(1) in the Yorkshire and theHumber region, 2006-10 
			 Police force area 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Total Yorkshire and the Humber 260,239 236,637 178,240 165,520 169,683 
			 (1) Includes fixed penalty notices issued for endorsable and non-endorsable offences.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Local Government: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what correspondence he has had with local authorities in the Tees Valley since May 2010; and if he will place copies of any such correspondence in the Library.

Nicholas Clegg: Details of correspondence with local authorities are not normally disclosed.

Voting Rights: Second Homes

Matthew Offord: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the refusal of some local authorities to allow second home owners to vote at local authority elections.

Chloe Smith: Electoral law permits an individual to be registered to vote in an area in which they are resident at an address. It is possible to be resident in more than one area. However it is ultimately a matter for the local electoral registration officer to determine whether an individual is resident at a particular address—and therefore eligible to vote in that area—having taken account of the relevant circumstances of the particular case.
	A person registered in more than one place is not permitted to vote twice at a general or European parliamentary election; however they are eligible to vote in local government elections in two (or more) different localities, as in doing so, they are not casting more than one vote in an election to the same body.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Political Parties: Finance

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many donors to Northern Irish political parties have made representations to her or her Office raising concerns about their security if anonymity of political donations is lifted in that country; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: The Government consulted on donations to Northern Ireland political parties in 2010. A number of parties responding to that consultation raised concerns about the security of their donors if the anonymity of political donations were lifted.
	No one has raised with us personal concerns as a donor.

Political Parties: Finance

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had with the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on potential threats against individuals if anonymity of political donations is lifted in Northern Ireland.

Michael Penning: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), and I have regular discussions with the Chief Constable on a range of matters linked to the security situation. However, we have not discussed with him the potential threat to particular individuals if the anonymity of political donations is lifted.
	The Government consulted on donations made to political parties in 2010 and the commitments made following that consultation will be taken forward through the draft Bill that we published on 11 February 2013.

JUSTICE

Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to comply with the requirements of the Aarhus convention in relation to civil litigation costs.

Helen Grant: The Government published its response on Cost Protection for Litigants in Environmental Judicial Review Claims on 28 August 2012. This set out proposals for a cost capping scheme for cases which fall within the Aarhus convention. The Civil Procedure Rules Committee subsequently made rules to give effect to these proposals. These rules will come into effect on 1 April 2013.

Claims Management Services

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to his Department's publication, Claims Management Regulation, The PPI Claims Market: Dealing with malpractice, page 9, paragraph 2, what plans his Department has to name the claims management companies that have had formal warnings issued against them by the Claims Management Regulation Unit for serious breaches of conduct.

Helen Grant: There are no plans to publish the names of claims management companies that have been the subject of informal enforcement action such as receiving a warning about their conduct. The Department does however publish the names of claims management companies on the Justice website's Authorised Business Search that have had formal enforcement action taken against them. Such action can range from statutory restrictions being added to their licence to suspension or cancellation of their licence.

Community Orders

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has any plans to bring forward proposals to automatically include rehabilitative elements as a condition of all community orders made by the courts.

Jeremy Wright: Provisions in Schedule 15 to the Crime and Courts Bill will require courts to include a punitive element as part of a community order. However, courts will continue to be required under section 142(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to have regard to the five purposes of sentencing, which include the reform and rehabilitation of offenders. The ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ consultation set out proposals to open up delivery of community-based offender services to a much more diverse range of providers. The Government is currently considering consultation responses in advance of bringing forward reforms to strengthen the rehabilitative elements of community orders.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many cases each mentor or supervisor of those serving less than 12 months in custody will be expected to carry at any one time;
	(2)  what Criminal Record Bureau checks will be made for mentors who are recruited to supervise prisoners serving less than 12 months on release;
	(3)  whether mentors of short-term prisoners will be paid;
	(4)  what vetting procedures will be put in place for mentors who are recruited to supervise prisoners serving less than 12 months on release.

Jeremy Wright: We are committed to opening up rehabilitative services to a range of new providers, who will be paid by results to help offenders turn their lives around. As a part of this we expect to see more use of innovative approaches, such as mentoring, and for offenders to receive targeted support to tackle the root causes of offending.
	The Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February. We will respond to the consultation and bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Personal Injury: Compensation

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will (a) use and (b) publish a full impact assessment of his proposals to reduce costs through the revised pre-action protocol for low-value personal injury claims in road traffic accidents via the RTA portal;
	(2)  if he will publish each item of evidence and background information that informed the current proposals to reduce costs through the revised pre-action protocol for low-value personal injury claims in road traffic accidents via the RTA portal.

Helen Grant: On 27 February 2013, the Government published its response to the consultation on fixed recoverable costs in relation to the extension of the Road Traffic Accident Personal Injury scheme, together with an accompanying impact assessment. The response sets out details of the evidence which informed the Government's decisions. Both the response and the impact assessment are available on the Ministry of Justice website and have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Unpaid Fines: West Midlands

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the value was of uncollected fines and orders issued by courts in (a) Dudley North constituency, (b) Dudley metropolitan borough and (c) the west midlands in 2011-12.

Helen Grant: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) systems do not identify amounts collected in specific constituency or metropolitan borough areas.
	The total value of all outstanding financial impositions accounts (excluding confiscation orders) in the west midlands accounting division at the end of 2011-12 was £36,010,096. This amount relates to all outstanding accounts regardless of when they were imposed and includes accounts which are compliant with their payment terms.

Victim Support Schemes: Human Trafficking

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) nationality and (b) gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in February 2013; in which region each of the suspected victims was found; and which agency referred each case to the scheme.

Helen Grant: In February 2013, there were 83 referrals to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by the Salvation Army. In the interests of victim safety, the region in which the victim was encountered is provided rather than the local authority. Details are provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Nationality Gender Region Referring agency 
			 Albanian Female South East Self Referral 
			 Albanian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Albanian Female North East UKBA 
			 Albanian Female South East Self Referral 
			 Albanian Female South East Health Services 
			 Albanian Female North West UKBA 
			 Albanian Female South UKBA 
			 Albanian Female South UKBA 
			 Albanian Female Wales Other 
			 British Male South East Police 
			 Burmese Female West Midlands Self Referral 
			 Chinese Male South East UKBA 
			 Chinese Female West Midlands UKBA 
			 Czech Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Czech Male Yorkshire Police 
			 Czech Male Yorkshire Police 
			 Congolese Male Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Gambian Male North West NGO 
			 Hungarian Female South East Police 
			 Hungarian Female South Police 
			 Hungarian Female East Midlands Other 
			 Hungarian Female Yorkshire NGO 
			 Indian Female South East Police 
			 Indian Female South East NGO 
			 Iranian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Latvian Female South East Police 
			 Latvian Female Yorkshire Self Referral 
			 Latvian Female South East UKBA 
		
	
	
		
			 Latvian Male West Midlands NGO 
			 Lithuanian Female South East NGO 
			 Lithuanian Male South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female North West UKBA 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female Wales UKBA 
			 North American Female North West UKBA 
			 Pakistani Female North West UKBA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands Local Authority 
			 Polish Female South East Police 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Female West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Female West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Female West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male North East Self Referral 
			 Polish Male North East Self Referral 
			 Polish Male North East Self Referral 
			 Polish Male North East Self Referral 
			 Polish Male West Midlands GLA 
			 Polish Male West Midlands Police 
			 Romanian Male South West Self Referral 
			 Romanian Female South Police 
			 Romanian Male South Police 
			 Romanian Female South East Detention 
			 Romanian Male West Midlands Police 
			 Romanian Male North West NGO 
			 Romanian Male South East NGO 
			 Romanian Female South East Police 
			 Slovakian Male South East Police 
			 Slovakian Male South East Police 
			 Slovakian Female South West NGO 
			 Slovakian Female South West Police 
			 Slovakian Male South East NGO 
			 Slovakian Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Sudanese Male South East NGO 
			 Thai Female South East UKBA 
			 Thai Female South East Police 
			 Thai Female South East NGO 
			 Ugandan Female South East UKBA 
			 Ugandan Female South East Detention 
			 Ugandan Male Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Vietnamese Female Wales UKBA 
			 Vietnamese Female South East Local Authority 
			 Vietnamese Female South Police 
			 Vietnamese Female South East Health Services 
			 Vietnamese Female Wales UKBA 
			 Vietnamese Male West Midlands UKBA 
			 Vietnamese Male South UKBA

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of air passenger duty on the tourism market.

Sajid Javid: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), keeps all taxes under review and considers their effects on a range of sectors in the round. The Government has limited the rise in air passenger duty (APD) to inflation over the period 2010-11 to 2012-13. Budget 2012 set out rates from April 2013, which will also only rise in line with inflation, ensuring that level of APD will again remain constant in real terms.

Air Passenger Duty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of re-banding Caribbean countries into the same band of air passenger duty as south Florida.

Sajid Javid: Re-banding Caribbean countries into the same band of APD as south Florida destinations in the US would require a change to the banding structure of APD as a whole. Changes to the banding structure of APD, including a revenue neutral move to a two band system, were considered as part of the consultation launched at Budget 2011 .The Government's response, published on 6 December 2011, can be found online here:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_airpassenger.htm

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Iain Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of a minimum unit price on alcohol on inflation.

Sajid Javid: Minimum unit pricing is projected to increase the headline CPI inflation rate by 0.2 ppts, according to the Home Office's published impact assessment for the policy. However as set out in the impact assessment, the overall effect on inflation is very uncertain. There are likely to be offsetting effects—for example, by retailers opting to discount other products instead of alcohol.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Iain Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of revenue implications for the Exchequer of a planned minimum unit price for alcohol; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the implications to revenue to the Exchequer of the introduction of setting a minimum unit price for alcohol of 45 pence in the first five years of the operation of such a minimum price.

Sajid Javid: The Government has recently completed a consultation on the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol of 45p. The consultation stage impact assessment sets out the impacts of a 45p minimum unit price—this is available on the Home Office website.
	The estimate of the impact on Exchequer revenue will be developed further based on the consultation feedback.

Audit

Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the next National Audit Register will be published.

Danny Alexander: holding answer 28 February 2013
	There are currently no plans in place to publish another National Asset Register. The last register was published in 2007 and covered central Government Departments together with their executive agencies, executive non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), NHS bodies and public corporations. Since then, the Whole of Government Accounts has been published, most recently for the year ended 31 March 2011, and this discloses the total national assets for central Government, NHS bodies and public corporations as well as local authorities, based on data from their published accounts. The next Whole of Government Accounts is planned to be published later this year.

Business: Finance

Michael Crockart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential of equity finance to increase access to funding for high growth companies.

Greg Clark: The Government recognises the importance of equity finance for high growth companies and has a number of measures in place to support this. Tax reliefs such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts have supported over £11.5 billion of equity investment in small companies since they were created. Enterprise Capital Funds, in which the Government invests alongside private investors, have so far provided £280 million of investment in UK companies. The Government has also supported the UK's largest banks in creating the Business Growth Fund, a £2.5 billion fund dedicated to investing equity in high growth small businesses.

Business: Loans

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he has given to UK Financial Investments Ltd to ensure those banks in receipt of special borrowing rights from the Bank of England make available loans to small businesses and take steps to facilitate the flow of funds to applicant businesses.

Sajid Javid: UK Financial Investments (UKFI) continue to be responsible for managing the Government's investments in Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on an arm's length and commercial basis. They do not manage the banks; the banks retain their own independent boards and management teams for strategic and operational decision-making.
	The relationship with RBS with regards to the Bank of England is on the same basis as all other commercial banks.

Child Benefit

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many higher rate taxpayers have instructed HM Revenue and Customs to stop child benefit payments since October 2012.

Sajid Javid: The number of child benefit recipients who have asked to have their child benefit payments stopped is over 370,000 as at 7 March. The charge will raise over £1.7 billion each year to tackle the deficit.

Child Benefit

Alan Beith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of means testing household income as an alternative measure of determining eligibility for child benefit.

Sajid Javid: Child benefit continues to be paid to all families who claim it and who are entitled to it. A tax charge is used to withdraw child benefit so that people on lower incomes do not continue to subsidise those who are better off. The tax charge only applies to people on an income over £50,000, who claim child benefit or whose partner claims child benefit. This charge increases gradually for taxpayers with an income between £50,000 and £60,000.
	The Government considered a number of different options relating to child benefit including how any change should be delivered. Looking at household income would mean finding out the incomes of everyone in each of the 8 million households getting child benefit. This would effectively introduce a new means test. Our approach means that we only had to contact around 15% of those families.

Employment: Bradford

David Ward: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to increase employment opportunities in Bradford.

Sajid Javid: The Government is helping private sector growth through a radical programme of reforms and investment, including through reducing corporation tax to 21% in April 2014, and funding £10 billion of projects that have already pre-qualified for the Government backed UK Guarantees Scheme.
	In addition, the Government has invested £3 billion to £5 billion into the Work programme that will support 2.4 million people by 2017, and £1 billion into the Youth Contract that will create up to 500,000 employment and education opportunities for young people.

Excise Duties: Beer

Julie Elliott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue accrued to the Exchequer from beer duty in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012.

Sajid Javid: The following table shows the amount of Exchequer revenue accrued from beer duty in 2009 to 2012, as published in the Alcohol Duty bulletin.
	
		
			  Total beer duty revenue (£ million) 
			 2009 3,143 
			 2010 3,272 
			 2011 3,422 
			 2012 3,443

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on (a) consumer perceptions of the cover by banking licence provided by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and (b) the replacement of such cover by cover by brand.

Greg Clark: Ministers and officials, as part of the process of policy development and delivery, have meetings with and receive representations from a wide variety of organisations and individuals in the public and private sector. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings and representations.

Financial Services: Taxation

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential economic effects of the European Commission's proposed financial transactions tax in the (a) Eurozone and (b) European Union on long-term economic growth in the United Kingdom.

Greg Clark: The European Commission have failed to provide an economic assessment of what their proposed financial transaction tax implemented through enhanced cooperation would mean for individual member states.
	The European Commission's own impact assessment of their original EU wide proposal for a financial transaction tax estimated that it would lead to a reduction in EU gross domestic product of up to 3.43%.

Financial Services: Taxation

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of whether the European Commission's proposed financial transactions tax will lead to increased levels of tax avoidance amongst investors in the (a) Eurozone and (b) European Union.

Greg Clark: The European Commission published their proposal for implementing a financial transaction tax through enhanced cooperation on 14 February. The Commission did not provide any detail on the impacts this would have on member states.
	We are currently considering the European Commission's proposal very carefully.

Housing: Construction

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to support local authorities in their spending on house building.

Danny Alexander: In March 2012 the Government ended the complex centralised subsidy system for financing local authority housing and gave them control to run their housing businesses. Local authorities have also benefited from the £4.5 billion Affordable Homes programme which will deliver 170,000 new homes over this spending review period.

Income Tax

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many basic rate taxpayers there are in (a) each parliamentary constituency and (b) each local authority area.

David Gauke: The information requested will be deposited in the Library of the House.

Inheritance Tax

Mark Menzies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on extending to siblings who live together the same inheritance tax rights as couples who live together; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The Government receives numerous representations from stakeholders and considers them as part of the annual Budget process.
	The relief for transfers of assets between spouses and civil partners is a long-standing part of the inheritance tax regime and reflects the particular position of assets held by married couples. Changing the current regime so that siblings receive the same reliefs as married couples and civil partners would not provide level treatment for different families’ circumstances and would add complexity to the tax regime.
	All individuals benefit from the nil-rate band allowance which is currently £325,000 and this amount can be left to any beneficiary entirely free of inheritance tax. When combined with other reliefs, this means that fewer than 4% of estates left on death are expected to pay inheritance tax for the 2011-12 financial year.

Inheritance Tax

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the amount of inheritance tax yield derived from ISAs forming part of estates subject to inheritance tax.

David Gauke: An assessment of the amount of inheritance tax yield derived from ISAs is not available.

Ministers

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the list of Ministers' meetings, hospitality, gifts and overseas travel for the last quarter of 2012.

Sajid Javid: The list for the fourth quarter of 2012 is currently being compiled and will be published as soon as it is ready.

Mortgages

Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information his Department holds on how many mortgage brokers have been authorised by the Financial Services Authority to carry on regulated activities under Part IV of the Financial Services and Market Act 2000 in the last year; and how many such firms have had their Part IV permission revoked or ceased regulated activity.

Sajid Javid: The Government do not hold data on the number of mortgage brokers that have been authorised by the Financial Services Authority, or on the number of mortgage brokers that have had their permission revoked or ceased regulated activity.

New Businesses: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many investments he expects will be made under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15 and (d) 2015-16; what the total value will be of each such investment; and what benchmarks or targets he has set in relation to this.

David Gauke: HMRC does not produce forecasts of the number of investors that would invest in SEIS companies.
	It is estimated that 300 completely new companies will benefit from SEIS in the first year. In total 1,000 companies will benefit from investment under the scheme.
	A beneficiary company may receive a maximum of £150,000 in total via SEIS, while an individual investor may invest a maximum of £100,000 annually via SEIS.
	No benchmarks or targets have been set. Tax relief will be given where both company and investor demonstrate a set of defined criteria.
	Eligibility criteria are available in the following link:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/seedeis/invest.htm

Overseas Aid

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on retaining the commitment to designate 0.7 per cent of national income to international development from 2013 onwards.

Sajid Javid: The Government made a commitment at the 2010 spending review to spend 0.56% of gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA) in 2011 and 2012 (calendar years) and to increase the ODA to GNI ratio to 0.7% in 2013 and 2014.

PAYE

Mike Freer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish detailed estimates of the anticipated £300 million in savings to business following the introduction of real-time payroll reporting.

David Gauke: HMRC will publish an updated Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) in mid March 2013 which will contain information on the costs and benefits of PAYE Real Time Information for both employers and HMRC.

Public Sector Debt

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the national debt was in May 2010; and what estimate he has made of the national debt in May 2015.

Sajid Javid: Historical data is set out in the Public Sector Finances databank, available on the Treasury website at
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psf_statistics.htm
	The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) set out forecasts for public sector net debt (PSND) in Table 4.32 of the December 2012 “Economic and Fiscal outlook”.

Public Sector: Pensions

Frank Dobson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of reforming the Fair Deal policy for public sector workers compulsorily transferred to the private sector.

Danny Alexander: The cost of the Fair Deal policy will, in part, depend on the number of individuals that will be affected under plans in future. The Government does not hold data on the number of staff that may be subject to transfers from the public to the private sector in the future.
	The Government expects the new approach to lead to savings in procurement. Under the proposals, independent providers will be able to offer access to the public service schemes for newly transferred staff. This is expected to be a cheaper way of providing pensions for many independent providers when compared with the requirement to offer a broadly comparable pension scheme. Current costs to the employer can be very high—up to 40% of the total pay bill. This additional cost will often be reflected in the contract price. The Government would expect lower costs to be reflected in lower contract prices.

Public Sector: Pensions

Frank Dobson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on extending the reformed pension arrangements under the Fair Deal policy for public sector workers transferred to the private sector to cover staff already transferred.

Danny Alexander: In publishing its response to the consultation on the Fair Deal Policy in November 2012, the Government included further consultation questions exploring how Fair Deal should apply to those employees that have already been transferred out under the existing Fair Deal policy when a contract is subsequently retendered. This further consultation closed on 11 February.
	The Government is now considering responses to these further questions to determine whether staff already transferred out under the existing policy should also have access to a public service pension scheme, or whether they should continue to accrue benefits in a broadly comparable scheme. The Government will make a further announcement on this issue in due course.

Road Haulage Forum

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Road Haulage Forum.

Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations, available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff from business and industry outside the public sector are currently on secondment to his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.

Sajid Javid: As at 28 February 2013 there were 14 individuals from business and industry outside the public sector on secondment to HM Treasury and its agencies.

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff from his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible are currently on secondment to business and industry outside the public sector.

Sajid Javid: As at 28 February 2013 there were seven employees of HM Treasury and its agencies working on secondment to business and industry outside the public sector.

Small Charitable Donations Act 2012

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which hon. Members have requested that events take place in their constituencies to publicise the Small Charitable Donations Act 2012.

Sajid Javid: The Government is not aware of any Members of Parliament, other than myself, who have arranged events in their constituencies to publicise the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.

Stamp Duties: Stocks and Shares

David Nuttall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on revenue of removing the liability to pay stamp duty on transactions in shares listed on the Alternative Investment Market.

Sajid Javid: All taxes are kept under review as part of the Budget process.

Tax Burden

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer further to the answer of 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 832W, on tax burden, if he will estimate how much of the average tax burden of a working family has gone towards paying for (a) welfare payments including tax credits but excluding the basic state pension and (b) debt interest in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: The vast majority of taxes are not hypothecated to specific expenditure and therefore making a direct connection is not possible. However an indicative calculation can be made based on the available National Statistics releases for tax and public spending.
	The available statistics show that the average amount of income tax paid by tax payers in the UK was £5,210(1) in 2011-12.
	Using the latest available National Statistics for spending this provides the following breakdown of how income tax funds the requested categories:
	(1) Taken from table 2.6 in HMRC's Income Tax Liabilities Statistics for 2010-11 to 2012-13:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/liabilities.pdf
	
		
			   Average amount of income tax Welfare payments (including tax credits but excluding pensions) Debt interest Other 
			 2011-12 Amount (£) 5,210 1,120 357 3,733 
			  Percentage of total tax paid — 21.5 6.8 71.7 
			       
			 2010-11 Amount (£) 4,850 1,096 340 3,774 
			  Percentage of total tax paid — 21.0 6.5 72.4 
			       
			 2009-10 Amount (£) 5,030 1,099 239 3,872 
			  Percentage of total tax paid — 21.1 4.6 74.3 
			       
			 2007-08 Amount (£) 5,010 1,054 280 3,876 
			  Percentage of total tax paid — 20.2 5.4 74.4 
			 Note: Average amount of income tax figures for 2008-09 are not available.

UK Financial Investments

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the accountability to Parliament of UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI); what steps he intends to take to increase such accountability; and what the annual cost to his Department is of UKFI.

Sajid Javid: UK Financial Investments (UKFI) produce annual reports together with the company's audited accounts which are laid before Parliament. The CEO, if required attends relevant parliamentary Committees (including Public Accounts Committee and Treasury Select Committee) for scrutiny and has done so on multiple occasions during this Parliament.
	The UKFI budget covers a period of at least 12 months and is reviewed by their board on an-annual basis and otherwise as necessary to take account of any additional or amended obligations or responsibilities assumed by the company. Their budget is subject to review by, and the approval of, HM Treasury on an annual basis.
	UKFI's budget for 2011-12 was c.£5 million this can be found in HM Treasury's annual report in box 4 on page 134 by following this link:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/hmt_annual_report_2012.pdf
	Also, UKFI's budgeted amount for 2012-13 is £2.7 million, this can be found on page 4 of the Estimates document by following this link:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/hmt_mainsupplyestimates_201213.pdf
	HM Treasury will be publishing UKFI's 2013-14 in the main Estimate which will be available on HM Treasury's website in April.

Welfare Tax Credits

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the potential effects on child poverty of planned changes to the uprating of tax credits and other payments announced in the autumn statement.

Sajid Javid: Treasury has not measured the impact of the autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-882, on the narrow relative income measure of child poverty as the Government strongly believes looking at relative income in isolation is not a helpful measure to track progress towards our target of eradicating child poverty.
	The Government is seeking a wide range of views as part of a consultation on better measures of child poverty, which include income but also wider measures to tackle the root causes of poverty including worklessness and educational failure.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 6 November 2012, Official Report, column 577W, on mass media, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish information relating to meetings since 1 July 2012 on that website; and for what reasons that answer did not follow the practice described by the Leader of the House in the answer of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 649W, on written questions.

Sajid Javid: Information for the period July to September 2012 has now been published and can be accessed at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm
	Information for the period October to December 2012 is being compiled for publication.
	This Government is the most transparent ever and is publishing more information than ever before on a regular basis.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made an assessment of the risk carbon assets pose to the financial system.

Gregory Barker: The Department has made no formal assessment of this risk.
	The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee is aware of the issue of systemic risks to the financial system posed by carbon assets. The Bank has said that, should the Committee conclude at any point that carbon assets do pose a systematic risk to the financial system, it will report and explain that risk in its six-monthly Financial Stability Report.

Carbon Emissions: Business

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with counterparts at the (i) Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs and (ii) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about carbon asset accounting by FTSE 100 companies.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), and Ministers have various meeting with their counterparts in other Departments to discuss a range of topics.

Electricity

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with Ofgem on (a) the anticipated costs of network reinforcement and (b) the impact on fuel poverty of these costs for each electricity network operator within the electricity distribution price control period; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: Significant investment in the electricity distribution network is needed to replace aging infrastructure and facilitate the rollout of new low carbon technologies. Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are responsible for assessing how much new investment is needed, and are regulated by Ofgem to ensure they deliver value for consumers.
	DECC and Ofgem established the Smart Grid Forum (SGF), an industry group which includes all the DNOs, to coordinate policy across the sector. Last year, the SGF produced a cost benefit model (“Model Transform”) to assess the anticipated costs and the benefits of different technologies and approaches to ensuring distribution networks have sufficient capacity to meet future demands. This model showed that the appropriate deployment of "smart" solutions, such as demand side management, can drive down costs by deferring or avoiding network reinforcement. This work was an input into Ofgem's electricity distribution price control review. Further details are available on the Smart Grid Forum website:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/SGF/Pages/SGF.aspx
	DECC publishes an Annual Report on Fuel Poverty which sets out analysis of the characteristics of those in fuel poverty. This report also looks at the impact of the drivers of fuel poverty, including changes in prices. The latest report is available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66016/5270-annual-report-fuel-poverty-stats-2012.pdf

Electricity and Natural Gas: EU Law

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of Ofgem's compliance with Article 40 of the Electricity Directive 2009/72/EC;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of Ofgem's compliance with sections 1(i) and 1(j) of Article 41 of the Gas Directive 2009/73/EC;
	(3)  what recent assessment his Department has made of Ofgem's compliance with Article 44 of the Gas Directive 2009/73/EC;
	(4)  what assessment his Department has made of Ofgem's compliance with sections 1(i) and 1(j) of Article 37 of the Electricity Directive 2009/72/EC.

John Hayes: DECC implemented new licence conditions in gas and electricity supply licences to impose the requirements of these Articles on suppliers. We understand that Ofgem has not to date requested any information or undertaken any investigations under these conditions.
	However, the Directives granted Ofgem much wider powers to request information on a compulsory basis from suppliers and other regulated persons. These powers relate to monitoring of the market for purposes wider than transactions in supply contracts, such as monitoring the level of competition and market opening. Ofgem has used these wider powers to request information from regulated persons, for example in their ongoing work on the retail market review.

Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with Ofgem on ensuring Distribution Network Operators investigate an alternative cost benefit analysis of other demand-side response actions that could be undertaken to defer or mitigate the need for network reinforcement; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: Significant investment in the electricity distribution network is needed to replace aging infrastructure and facilitate the rollout of new low carbon technologies. Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are responsible for assessing how much new investment is needed, and are regulated by Ofgem to ensure they deliver value for consumers.
	DECC and Ofgem established the Smart Grid Forum (SGF), an industry group which includes all the DNOs, to co-ordinate policy across the sector. Last year, the SGF produced a cost benefit model (“Model Transform”) to assess the anticipated costs and the benefits of different technologies and approaches to ensuring distribution networks have sufficient capacity to meet future demands. This model showed that the appropriate deployment of “smart” solutions, such as demand side management, can drive down costs by deferring or avoiding network reinforcement. This work was an input into Ofgem's electricity distribution price control review. Further details are available on the Smart Grid Forum website:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/SGF/Pages/SGF.aspx

Energy: Capital Investment

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the final investment decision enabling process is successful in its aim of facilitating projects which could otherwise be jeopardised by the timetable for the Energy Bill.

John Hayes: The Government is committed to working with project developers to enable investment decisions to progress to timetable wherever possible. We are taking powers in the Energy Bill to enable early CfDs to be issued in advance of the implementation of the enduring regime envisaged by electricity market reform. We are in active discussion with EDF over the terms of an early CfD for its proposed new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point C. We are also talking to a significant number of renewables developers about how FID enabling could help them and we will shortly publish further details of the process through which renewables projects can seek early CfDs.

Energy: Housing

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with Ofgem about the steps Distribution Network Operators could take in (a) identifying off-gas grid fuel poor customers and (b) identifying alternative electric heat technologies and (c) household efficiency improvements that could be used; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: Ministers and officials meet Ofgem regularly to discuss a wide range of issues relevant to energy efficiency, heating technology and fuel poverty.
	Ofgem is responsible for ensuring Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) offer value for consumers through regular price controls. Its strategy for the next price control, which will cover the period from 2015 to 2023, includes measures to incentivise DNOs to improve the quality of information they have on vulnerable consumers, such as those who are not on the gas grid. DECC has actively participated in the development of Ofgem's price control, including with regard to vulnerable consumers, to help ensure it aligns with Government objectives.
	DECC is also working with Ofgem on the development of Ofgem's vulnerable consumer strategy and the Government's heat strategy and fuel poverty strategy.
	Later this month DECC will publish a Heat Policy paper covering alternative electric heat technologies as part of its overall approach on promoting low carbon heating. DECC already has a range of policies in place to provide support to off-gas grid and fuel poor households. This includes the Warm Home Discount, the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (for energy efficiency) and the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (for alternative heating technologies, including heat pumps).

Fossil Fuels: Reserves

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of the Capital Markets Climate Initiative on the level of capital being made available to develop fossil fuel reserves.

John Hayes: I established the Capital Markets Climate Initiative (CMCI) in 2010 as a forum where Government, private sector and third sector can come together to develop best practice and help drive innovation and new ideas for action to mobilise private finance flows for low carbon technologies, solutions and infrastructure in developing economies. Consequently, there is no assessment of the effect of CMCI on the level of capital being made available to develop fossil fuel reserves.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households have had a Green Deal assessment to date.

Gregory Barker: In accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, the statistics on Green Deal assessments have been pre-announced to be published by DECC on 14 March 2013 and therefore cannot be released before then. This publication will include the number of properties that have had a Green Deal assessment which has been lodged on the central register.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how many households have taken out a green deal package to date;
	(2)  how many Green Deal plans have been signed to date;
	(3)  how many Green Deal finance agreements have been signed to date.

Gregory Barker: DECC will release official statistics on the number of Green Deal plans at pre-installation stage (finance agreements have been signed), and post-installation stage (measures have been installed) in June 2013.

Green Deal Scheme

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make an assessment of the potential cost of the Energy Company Obligations to consumer energy bills resulting from low take up of the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: In the final Green Deal and ECO impact assessment, we estimated a total cost to energy companies of delivering ECO at around £1.3 billion a year on average. This is broadly comparable to the estimated costs of the previous schemes, CERT and CESP, and on this basis we have estimated there should be no significant change to pass-through costs to consumers—though whether and how costs are passed through to consumers is a question for individual energy companies. The IA also set out a number of sensitivities, including low and high demand scenarios(1), but £1.3 billion was the central, best estimate.
	Under ECO, we have new powers to collect data on the actual costs of delivery, the costs of administering the scheme and the costs passed through to consumers.
	(1) See pages 54-60
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/42984/5533-final-stage-impact-assessment-for-the-green-deal-a.pdf

Housing: Energy

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will publish and place in the Library the data he holds on domestic energy costs for households in each year since 2002 and an estimate of such costs in each year until 2022.

Gregory Barker: DECC routinely publishes historic and projected electricity and gas prices in its Updated Energy and Emissions Projections. The latest publication—from October 2012—is available online at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/2012-energy-and-emissions-projections
	The following table sets out residential gas and electricity prices for each year from 2002 to 2022 (based on central fossil fuel price assumptions).
	In addition DECC publishes an assessment of the impact energy and climate changes policies on energy prices and bills. The latest report, available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessment-of-the-impact-of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-prices-and-bills
	was published in November 2011 and focused on the impacts of policies in 2011, 2020 and 2030.
	
		
			 Residential retail energy prices (in real 2012 prices)(1,2) 
			 p/KWh 
			  Electricity Gas 
			 2002 8.9 2.0 
			 2003 8.8 2.0 
			 2004 9.1 2.1 
			 2005 9.8 2.4 
			 2006 11.6 3.0 
			 2007 12.3 3.2 
			 2008 13.7 3.7 
			 2009 14.2 4.1 
			 2010 13.5 3.8 
			 2011 14.1 4.1 
			 2012 14.5 4.5 
			 2013 14.9 4.8 
			 2014 16.2 5.2 
			 2015 17.5 5.5 
			 2016 18.4 5.6 
			 2017 18.8 5.7 
			 2018 18.9 5.5 
			 2019 19.0 5.5 
			 2020 19.1 5.5 
			 2021 18.9 5.5 
			 2022 18.9 5.4 
			 (1) Prices are converted to real prices using the GDP Deflator series. (2) Projected retail prices are based on projected wholesale prices (based on central fossil fuel price assumptions), averaged historical non-fuel costs, and are uplifted by taxes, fuel duties and policy costs recovery, including implementation of the EMR programme as outlined in the Draft Energy Bill and the impact of the Carbon Price Support Floor commitment in Budget 2011. Source: DECC, Updated Energy and Emissions Projections, October 2012

Peat Bogs

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect that wind farms (a) installed on peatlands, (b) approved for construction on peatlands and (c) awaiting planning approval for construction on peatlands (i) have had to date and (ii) will have on the capacity of such peatlands to sequester carbon dioxide.

Gregory Barker: The Department for Energy and Climate Change does not hold information on the number of wind power installations installed on peatlands.
	It is important to ensure that when wind turbines are constructed on peatlands, the process is managed carefully to minimise carbon losses from the soil. Applicants for consent for major energy infrastructure sited on peatland must provide assessments of potential biodiversity and geological impacts. The decision-making authority would need to take such impacts into account before making its decision.
	In most cases, if managed carefully, new wind turbines constructed on peatlands from now until 2030 will still have significantly lower carbon emissions per unit of electricity generated than the UK marginal electricity mix.

Plants

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees in each year between 2005 and 2010.

Gregory Barker: DECC have not spent any money on plants or trees since it was created in 2008.
	Through our facilities management contractor a Christmas tree has been provided in the main reception areas of 3 Whitehall Place and 55 Whitehall; however, no separate cost was attributed to this within the contract to DECC.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate the number of park home owners in England who would be eligible for energy discounts under the Warm Home Discount scheme if their electricity accounts could be in their own name.

Gregory Barker: The Department for Communities and Local Government consultation, ‘A Better Deal For Mobile Home Owners’, stated that there are approximately 85,000 households living on mobile home sites in England. The consultation is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/8362/21280282.pdf
	We do not have estimates for the number of people living in park homes who would be eligible under the Warm Home Discount if their electricity accounts were in their name.

Wind Power

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK waters currently feasible for the construction of offshore wind turbines.

John Hayes: No estimate has been made on the proportion of UK waters currently feasible for the construction of offshore wind farms. However it is the Crown Estate who are the owners of the sea bed and a maps of the round 1, 2 and Scottish Territorial Water wind farm sites along with the round 3 development zones can be found at:
	http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/266423/offshore-wind-uk.pdf

Wind Power

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many offshore wind turbines have been erected in UK waters in each of the last five years.

John Hayes: The Department does not keep records of when individual offshore wind turbines are erected. However we do have details for when offshore wind farms have become complete and become fully operational.
	
		
			  Wind farm Turbines 
			 2008 Lynn 24 
			  Inner Dowsing 30 
			    
			 2009 Gunfleet Sands 30 
			  Rhyl Flats 25 
			  Gunfleet Sands II 18 
			  Robin Rigg West 30 
			    
			 2010 Thanet 100 
			  Robin Rigg East 30 
			    
			 2011 Walney 1 51 
			    
			 2012 Walney 2 51 
			  Ormonde 30 
			  Greater Gabbard 140 
			  Sheringham Shoal 88

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent violence in Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: The British Government is concerned by reports of the recent violence in Bangladesh, which erupted following the International Crimes Tribunal's latest verdict in the case of Delwar Hossain Sayedee. We understand that there have been multiple deaths and thousands of people injured.
	Opposition parties, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have called for hartals throughout the last week. As the Senior Minister of State, my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Warsi, stated during her visit to Bangladesh last month, violence and vandalism have no place in legitimate protests. In a statement issued on Sunday, our high commissioner in Dhaka, Robert Gibson, said he deplored the violence and expressed sadness over the deaths and noted the impact on the lives of all citizens and businesses.
	We have urged all parties to exercise restraint and will continue to monitor the situation.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcomes were of the Senior Minister of State's recent visit to Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: The Senior Minister of State, my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Warsi, had a very successful trip to Bangladesh. She discussed a wide range of topics with various interlocutors.
	With Bangladesh set for its next parliamentary elections by January 2014, the visit was an opportunity to deliver messages on the importance of free, fair and participatory elections to Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, and the leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia. Baroness Warsi also met with the Chief Election Commissioner to discuss Bangladesh's election preparations and the role of the Election Commission in helping to deliver free and fair elections.
	The Minister raised our concerns about the International Crimes Tribunal and our absolute opposition to the death penalty in meetings with Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, during her visit. Furthermore, she raised the issue of disappearances, including that of Elias Ali and his driver and extra-judicial killings. Baroness Warsi, also became the first British Minister to visit the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar and witnessed the seriousness of this humanitarian situation. She called on the Government of Bangladesh to continue allowing international aid to reach the Rohingya community and repeated our call for Burma to find a long-term solution for the Rohingya people.
	The British Government will continue to discuss these issues with the Bangladesh Government at all opportunities.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Bangladesh regarding recent violence in that country.

Alistair Burt: The British Government is very concerned about the ongoing violent protests in Bangladesh. We have called for restraint both publicly and privately with the Bangladesh Government. Our high commissioner in Dhaka, Robert Gibson, met with the Bangladesh Government, including the Foreign Minister, Dipu Moni, this week to raise our concerns. He also released a statement on 3 March expressing sadness over the violence and the deaths that have taken place across Bangladesh recently.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support Bosnia's proposed membership of the EU; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Government fully supports Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in its aspiration to join the European Union. We continue to deliver clear and consistent messages to BiH's leaders on the importance of a committed effort to meet the conditions required for progress towards accession. In particular, BiH must take early steps to align the Constitution with the European Convention on Human Rights and to establish an EU co-ordination mechanism. Both are necessary to unlock BiH's Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to bring those held responsible for the Srebrenica genocide to justice.

David Lidington: The UK is committed to justice and reconciliation in Srebrenica and throughout the Western Balkans. The arrest and trials of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic underline the international community's commitment to bringing those responsible for the genocide to account. The trial of Mladic, along with that of Goran Hadzic, the last remaining indictee to be brought to trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, marks a turning point for all the countries of the Western Balkans and the start of a new chapter of cooperation and reconciliation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to institutionalise a day of remembrance for the victims of Srebrenica.

David Lidington: The UK Government commemorates the Srebrenica genocide annually and in line with the European Parliament's 2009 resolution institutionalising 11 July as a day of remembrance throughout the EU. The UK is represented every year at the commemoration ceremony in Srebrenica by the UK ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, often accompanied by a Minister. In 2012, to mark the anniversary, the Prime Minister issued a statement reminding that the genocide must never be forgotten or denied.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who will represent the Government at the Srebrenica memorial event in Bosnia in July 2013.

David Lidington: The Government is usually represented at the memorial event by our ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Baroness Warsi also attended in 2010 and 2011.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support Bosnia to become a member of NATO; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Government is a strong supporter of Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) NATO ambitions. In order to make further progress and start the first annual national programme under their NATO Membership Action Plan, BiH must resolve the outstanding issue of the registration of immovable defence property. We continue to communicate the benefits NATO membership will bring to all parts of BiH and to encourage BiH's leaders to work together to reach agreement soon.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support he is giving to the International Commission on Missing Persons for victims of the Srebrenica genocide; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The UK is a strong supporter of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). We have provided consistent political and financial support to ICMP for many years, investing almost £2.5 million since 2000. Recent UK programmes have focused on establishing local sustainable capacities in BiH and building on ICMP’s expertise beyond the Western Balkans.

Burma

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the benefits of increased trade between the UK and Burma.

Hugo Swire: In response to positive political developments in Burma, in April 2012 the British Government adopted a policy of encouraging responsible investment in Burma. We believe such investment will support Burma's ongoing political and economic transition taking place. To help strengthen responsible business in Burma, including those investing in the country, the UK through the Department for International Development will provide £600,000 to establish a responsible investment resource centre in Rangoon. We urge all companies considering investing in Burma to abide by international standards of corporate governance and social and environmental responsibility. UK Trade and Investment also has a presence in Burma and is able to provide services to UK businesses, including tailored market research, to help them plan how to invest in the market sustainably and responsibly.

Burma

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether the Burmese government's committee on political prisoners will be an inclusive and transparent review mechanism; and whether the Government is in discussions with the Burmese government to ensure that the mandate of this new committee will extend to all prisoners who have been unfairly detained.

Hugo Swire: The British Government welcomes the creation by the Burmese Government of a committee on political prisoners and notes the range of independent civil society organisations taking part. This committee builds on earlier steps by the Burmese Government to grant access to the International Committee for the Red Cross to prisoners and prisons. It will be important that all cases are reviewed promptly, impartially and transparently.
	We have not been in touch with the Burmese Government on whether they plan to extend the mandate of the committee to review all prisoner cases, though we do note the challenges faced with regards to rule of law and the status of the judiciary in Burma more generally.

Caribbean

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken in respect of the commitment made at the UK-Caribbean Forum held in January 2012 to mitigate the effects of air passenger duty on the Caribbean region.

Mark Simmonds: To date there is a lack of firm evidence directly linking air passenger duty (APD) to any decline in the tourist industry in the Caribbean. But we have maintained a dialogue with the Caribbean on this issue and last November facilitated a meeting between the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid). The CTO delegation, which included Tourism Ministers from Jamaica and Barbados, used the opportunity to inform the Treasury of the Caribbean's concerns about APD.

European Court of Human Rights

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 7 September 2012, Official Report, column 466W, on European Court of Human Rights, whether the UK will make discretionary payments to the European Court of Human Rights to assist that court to clear its backlog of cases; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: We have no plans to make discretionary payments to the European Court of Human Rights. We believe the best way to reduce the Court’s backlog is through effective reforms. That was a key UK priority during our chairmanship of the Council of Europe and culminated in agreement of the Brighton declaration in April 2012. Our focus is now on implementation of the Brighton declaration.

Nigeria

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with Shell the clean-up and decontamination of that company's oil spill sites in the Niger Delta.

Mark Simmonds: Oil spills in the Niger Delta occur because of criminal activity as well as oil company operations. However, we regularly raise environmental issues with representatives of the oil industry. I discussed the Delta's environmental problems with Shell on 29 October 2012. The British High Commissioner raised environmental damage with senior Shell executives on 19 February.
	We support oil-sector legislation that promotes transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector, including environmental responsibility. I discussed this, and broader environmental issues in the Niger Delta with the National Coordinator of Nigeria's Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project when I visited Abuja on 27 February. Prior to my visit, I met the Chair of the Nigerian Senate Committee for Ecology and Environment on 26 February to discuss the progress of proposed legislation including an amendment on the management of oil spills,

Nuclear Weapons

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason the Government did not send a representative to the Oslo Conference on the Consequence of Nuclear Weapons Use.

Alistair Burt: After careful consideration, the Government decided not to send a representative to the conference on the ‘humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons’ in Oslo.
	The Government supports fully the objective of a world without nuclear weapons, and is committed to working with all nations in pursuit of this shared goal. We fully understand the serious consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and will, alongside our P5 partners, continue to give the highest priority to ensuring that such consequences are avoided. While we recognise the seriousness of this subject and attach the utmost importance to it, our main concern was that the conference in Oslo could divert discussion and focus away from the practical steps required to create the conditions for further nuclear weapons reductions.
	We believe that the practical, step-by-step approach that we are taking to progress multilateral nuclear disarmament through existing mechanisms, such as the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and Conference on Disarmament, have proven to be the most effective means to increase stability and reduce nuclear dangers. We will therefore continue to work together with our P5 colleagues, and non nuclear weapons states, toward strengthening the foundation for mutual confidence and further disarmament efforts.

Sexual Offences

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his G8 counterparts to support the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative ahead of the G8 Foreign Ministers' meeting in April 2013.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has made it a priority to use the G8 Foreign Ministers' meeting in April 2013 to secure a clear political statement from the G8 of its determination to make real, tangible progress on combating the use of sexual violence in conflict. He intends to seek commitments from the G8 to overcome a wider set of practical barriers that impede the implementation of existing international legal frameworks and prevent successful investigations and prosecutions. We will also be seeking a declaration from G8 partners that rape and serious sexual violence constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
	The Secretary of State has used every opportunity to raise awareness of the Initiative and to seek support G8 countries and more widely. Individual visits to G8 countries to meet counterparts have been undertaken by the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) team; the Initiative has been raised by the Secretary of State and other Government Ministers in numerous bilateral meetings; and it was promoted at a PSVI side event at the UN General Assembly in September 2012, and at a Wilton Park Conference in November 2012, both of which had G8 attendees. In February 2013, a G8 experts meeting was held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. This was attended by representatives from all the G8 countries and presented an opportunity to discuss the key components of a G8 communiqué.

Sexual Offences

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that human rights are at the heart of the development of its Preventing Sexual Violence initiative.

Mark Simmonds: Upholding human rights and promoting justice and accountability is at the heart of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) Initiative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to support legislative programs in other countries to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and to tackle violence against women. The Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) is intended to support and complement this work and that which is under way across the British Government on the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
	PSVI seeks to protecting the human rights of women, girls, men and boys, all of whom are affected by sexual violence in conflict. PSVI also seeks commitments from G8 partners to support the work of human rights defenders, in particular women.

Sudan

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

Lynne Featherstone: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for International Development.
	We are deeply concerned by the plight of civilians caught up in the fighting in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. Around 900,000 people have been displaced or severely affected by conflict since it began in June 2011. Although limited access means that we are unable to make a detailed assessment of the humanitarian situation, evidence received, including from refugees arriving in South Sudan and Ethiopia, points to a level of food, insecurity among those remaining in the conflict zones. We are working with the UN and other agencies to ensure all options for access are explored, and are also ready to make further funding available to meet the needs of people in all areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile as soon as access is possible.

Sudan

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will meet with the Sudanese Ambassador to discuss the detention of opposition party member Mohammed Zain al-Abdeen and to request that he receives adequate medical care with regard to his poor health.

Mark Simmonds: We are concerned at the case of Mr Mohamed Zain Al-Abdeen. Officials at our embassy in Khartoum are in contact with Mr Al-Abdeen!s family to discuss the details of his detention and his welfare, most recently meeting them on 6 March. We have raised his case with senior officials within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will continue to do so. As Professor Osman is also a dual national, we have requested consular access twice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are deeply concerned that we have had no response to these requests. Embassy consular officials will continue to press strongly for access, and have issued another request for access on 7 March. We await their response.
	We will continue to monitor this case closely, and look for further opportunities to raise our concerns about this case, as well as looking for opportunities for co-ordinating action with our international partners in Sudan. As well as raising our concern over consular access with the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum, we will also seek to raise this case with the Sudanese ambassador in London at the next available opportunity.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

BBC

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what reports she has received on allegations that the BBC used money raised from the licence fee to prevent whistleblowing; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: I am aware that there have been allegations against the BBC with regards to whistleblowing. The BBC is examining this in the context of their ongoing inquiries and I expect the BBC to consider what action is required in response to the findings. In addition to this, the National Audit Office (NAO) now has full access to the BBC in carrying out value for money studies following the last licence fee settlement. NAO reports are laid before Parliament, along with the BBC Trust's response, and can be examined by the Public Accounts Committee.

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the overlapping communications requirements of universal broadband and smart metering.

Hugh Robertson: The communication requirements of the Smart Metering Implementation programme in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are different from those of communities requiring broadband access, which is being addressed by my Department. DECC is in the process of completing the requirements for smart metering communications and, depending on the solutions selected, this may, or may not, make use of parts of the mobile telephony infrastructure in which my Department is supporting investment. The Smart Metering solution once developed is unlikely to be a means of providing broadband communications to households. Officials in the two Departments are sharing information on the respective programmes.

Buildings

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what occupation costs of each type are incurred for each property used by her Department.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) occupies two properties:
	2-4 Cockspur Street, London (main office of the Department);
	Queens Yard 179a Tottenham Court Road (the Government Art Collection and other ancillary uses).
	The following table identifies departmental spend on the occupation of these properties in the year 2011-12.
	In April 2013, as part of the Department's planned reduction of its administration costs, DCMS will be leaving 2-4 Cockspur Street and moving into a building shared with HMRC.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2-4 Cockspur St Tottenham Court Road Not allocated by building Total 
			 Rent 4,774,858 799,323 — 5,574,181 
			 Business rates 1,520,197 238,201 — 1,758,398 
			 Service charges 481,634 34,240 — 515,874 
			 Security — — 396,567 396,567 
			 Fuel and utilities — — 170,420 170,420 
			 Other accommodation costs — — 720,305 720,305 
			 Gross cost 6,776,689 1,071,764 1,287,292 9,135,744 
			 Income -776,527 -40,034  -816,562 
			 Net cost 6,000,161 1,031,730 1,287,292 8,319,183 
		
	
	The Prime Minister announced in a written ministerial statement of the 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 96WS, the transfer of the Government Equalities Office (GEO) from the Home Office to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. GEO currently occupies space in the Home Office's headquarters at 2 Marsham Street, and will contribute £1,182,000 for the workstations it uses in 2 Marsham Street for 2012-13. This charge covers both space and information and communications technology. In early 2013-14, GEO will move into a building occupied by the DCMS.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to improve coverage of digital radio in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber.

Hugh Robertson: As part of the Government's Digital Radio Action Plan, Ofcom are leading a review of current and future local DAB coverage. In May 2012, Ofcom published a report setting out the parameters for future DAB coverage planning and how infrastructure needs to change to match current FM level. The report can be found at:
	http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/radio/coverage/dab-coverage/?utm_source=updates&utm_ medium=email&utm_campaign=dab-coverage-report
	Ofcom is now working with industry on a detailed planning exercise to optimise the number, location and power of additional DAB transmitters needed to replicate FM coverage in the most cost-effective way, and will report to Government in the summer.
	In June 2012 the Government, multiplex operators and the BBC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on local DAB funding for radio switchover. The MoU set out the process for providing up to £21 million of investment to build-out local DAB coverage in the next two years, subject to a decision on radio switchover. In addition, the MoU has facilitated the launch of five new local commercial DAB multiplexes this year and a further eight next year, including the local multiplex in North Yorkshire.

Energy: Meters

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role (a) her Department and (b) Broadband UK have in the roll-out of smart metering and smart grids.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including Broadband Delivery UK, does not have a direct role in the roll-out of smart metering and smart grids which is led by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Officials in the two Departments are sharing information on the respective programmes.

Entertainments: Tickets

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received about regulation of the secondary concert ticket market; what monitoring of abuse of this market she has carried out; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The Department receives a range of representations on ticket fraud and the secondary ticketing market. Government has no plans to change the legislative framework concerning the secondary ticket market. We will, however, continue to monitor this area through a range of methods including analysis of the representations received and observation of the sector as a whole.

Internet

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 213W, on internet, what recent assessment she has made of the provision of free community internet access points for use by those who do not have internet access at home in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has made no assessment of the provision of free community internet access points across the UK.

Plants

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees in each year from 2005 to 2010.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has spent £84,412.59 on indoor and outdoor plants and trees for the period 2005 to 2010.

Sick Leave

Marcus Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many days of paid sickness leave per individual member of staff are authorised in her Department on an annual basis.

Hugh Robertson: DCMS provides a framework of procedures and behaviours, to enable absence to be dealt with fairly and consistently by both managers and staff.
	In accordance with civil service policy on sickness absence and departmental rules, DCMS allows up to 12 months’ sick pay in any period of four years. Within this limit, up to six months in any period of 12 months may be on full pay, less any social security benefit received; the remaining six months’ entitlement may be on half pay.
	The average number of paid sickness leave per individual member of staff authorised in my Department is 4.8 days per annum.

Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research and data collection relating to sport her Department has (a) initiated, (b) terminated and (c) amended since May 2010.

Hugh Robertson: The information is as follows:
	1. DCMS Taking Part Survey
	Regular data collection and statistical reporting of sport participation for both adults and children, collected through the Taking Part survey, was initiated in 2005-06 and has been collected and reported on since then. One off research reports are as follows—they are normally initiated around six months before the publication (termination) dates listed as follows:
	Publication date: 13 December 2012
	Inspiring a generation: a Taking Part report on the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/publications/9583.aspx
	Publication date: 19 August 2010
	Alternative methods of measuring participation in culture and sport: Analysis of the Taking Part Survey
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/137992/TP_alternativemeasures_report.pdf
	Publication date: 19 August 2010
	Participation, engagement and intensity of sports participants: Analysis of the Taking Part Survey
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/137993/TP_Sportparticipationreport__1_.pdf
	Publication date: 22 August 2011
	Appendix K—Themed Report—Developing a new set of sports participation questions for Taking Part
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-reports
	2. DCMS London 2012 Meta-evaluation
	The London 2012 meta-evaluation pulls together the results of evaluations of individual legacy programmes, projects and initiatives, and uses these along with additional research to assess the overall legacy and impacts of the games. The following work was initiated in March 2010 with publication (termination) dates as follows:
	Report 1: Scope, Research Questions and Data Strategy: Meta-Evaluation of the Impacts and Legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games—30 June 2011
	Report 2: Methods: Meta-Evaluation of the Impacts and Legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games—30 June 2011
	Report 3: Baseline and Counterfactual: Meta-Evaluation of the Impacts and Legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games—31 January 2012
	Report 4: Interim Evaluation: Meta-Evaluation of the Impacts and Legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games—13 November 2012
	These can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_ filter_option=all&topics%5B%5D=sports-and-leisure&departments%5B%5D=department-for-culture-media-sport&world_locations%5B%5D=all&direction =before&date=2013-04-01
	London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Host Borough Survey Results (initiated January 2012 and published 11 June 2012)
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/london-2012-olympic-and-paralympic-host-borough-survey-results
	The final meta-evaluation report of the project (Report 5) will be published in summer 2013.
	3. DCMS School Games Indicator
	School Games Indicator 2011-12. First published 24 September 2012 as a new departmental performance indicator.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-games-indicator-2011-2012
	4. Sport Satellite Account
	2004-06 Sport Satellite Account Report Organisations Published: 26 October 2011.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-culture-media-sport/series/sport-satellite-account-for-the-uk-statistics
	DCMS has contracted for further editions of the Sport Satellite Account to 2009, but the publication schedule has not been confirmed.
	5. DCMS Culture and Sport Evidence (CASE) Programme
	CASE is a strategic programme of research, focusing on cross-cutting issues of relevance to the sport and culture sectors. Its work does not focus specifically on an individual sector; however, its research will include coverage of such cross-cutting issues as they relate to sport. Since May 2010, the following pieces of work addressing issues within the sport sector, have been commissioned and/or completed:
	Drivers, Impact, Values:
	This work was published in July 2010 and provides evidence on the factors driving participation in culture and sport and its impact and value.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/case-programme-understanding-the-drivers-impacts-and-value-of-engagement-in-culture-and-sport
	CASE database:
	Originally set up in 2008, the database was updated in summer 2012 and now contains over 12,000 studies on engagement in culture and sport, in an online, searchable database.
	http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/webdatabases4/Intro.aspx?ID=2
	Local Data Regional Insights Tool:
	As part of its 2009-10 programme, the DCMS Culture and Sport Evidence (CASE) programme commissioned Regional and Local Insights, a resource bringing together a wide range of data on culture and sport. Since their publication in 2010, a number of the data sources for the Regional and Local Insights data have been refined, updated or discontinued and the tool is currently being updated at present. This update is drawing in the sports insights tool, previously set up by Sport England.
	https://www.gov.uk/case-programme-local-tools-sport-and-culture-and-heritage
	Social Benefits:
	Commissioned autumn 2012, this current piece of research aims to draw together evidence on the range of social impacts e.g. health, well-being, education resulting from sport and cultural participation and engagement.
	Business models:
	Commissioned in late 2011, this current piece of work seeks to investigate the views and activities of organisations within the sports and cultural sectors.
	6. Sport lottery distributors
	The data collected by the Department from all of the sports lottery distributors is amended on a regular basis following updates from the distributors themselves.
	http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk/Search.aspx

Staff

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff her Department employed in each of the past five years; how many such staff were employed in London; how many such staff were employed in other regions of England; how many posts moved from London to these regions; and what steps she is taking to move her staff to regional offices.

Hugh Robertson: The number of full-time staff equivalents (FTEs) employed within DCMS, as disclosed in our Remuneration Report, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent staff 
			 2008-09 459.2 
			 2009-10 454.1 
			 2010-11 483.5 
			 2011-12 456.9 
			 2012-13(1) 317 
			 (1) Latest data-final figures will be published in the Remuneration Report after the year-end. 
		
	
	The Department does not employ employees in other regions of England and has no plans to move employees to regional offices.
	However, the Department is relocating at the end of March 2013 to 100 Parliament Street to share a building with HMRC, which will generate a saving of £2 million per year.

Television: Licensing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many households in each constituency in Northern Ireland have a black and white television licence.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS does not hold this information. TV Licensing was able to provide the figure of black and white licences held for Northern Ireland but does not hold a breakdown of black and white licences by constituency. There are 822 black and white TV licences in force in Northern Ireland (as at January 2013). Some black and white TVs may require a colour licence if they can receive and record programmes in colour, for example when using a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) connected to a black and white TV. The cost of a black and white TV Licence is frozen at £49 until 2016.

Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to promote cross-departmental working to support the English tourist economy.

Hugh Robertson: holding answer 7 March 2013
	Tourism is vitally important to the future of the UK economy and this Government is working across all Departments to remove barriers to tourism growth.
	DCMS worked with the Home Office, UK Border Agency and other key Departments in developing the service improvements to the visa service in China which were announced in December 2012. The 2013-14 fuel duty increase of 3.02p per litre, originally planned for 1 January 2013, will be deferred until 1 September 2013. This will in particular benefit the rural tourism economy. We also continue to work closely across Whitehall on a range of issues including deregulation, including the relaxation of entertainment licensing that will come into force in April 2013, planning, improving skills and infrastructure.
	The Government has also developed the world class GREAT campaign, which works across a wide range of Departments to promote tourism, inward investment and education and which is estimated to deliver over a quarter of a billion pounds to the UK economy in the next two years.

Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she plans to take to provide support to the English tourist economy.

Hugh Robertson: The English tourist economy will continue to benefit from VisitEngland's work in a number of ways, including marketing, providing business support, research and insights, strategy development and its work with individual destinations. A £25 million campaign is under way (including Holiday's at Home are GREAT) which aims to deliver an additional £500 million in visitor spend over four years (2011-15). VisitEngland received £19.8 million from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills' Regional Growth Fund for its ‘Growing Tourism Locally’ programme. Delivered over three years by VisitEngland and local partners, and supported by private sector funding, it aims to inspire Britons to take more holidays at home, boosting local economies through growth in visitor spend, resulting in the creation of 9,100 indirect jobs.
	DCMS is also working with Departments across Whitehall on a range of issues including deregulation, visas, improving skills, planning and infrastructure to remove barriers to tourism growth.
	English tourism will also continue to benefit from both VisitBritain's £100 million tactical marketing campaign and the GREAT Image campaign which over four years (2011-15) aims to deliver an additional 4.6 million overseas visitors, an additional £2.3 billion visitor spend, and the creation of almost 60,000 new job opportunities.

Tourism: VAT

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the rate of VAT on visitor accommodation and attractions.

Hugh Robertson: DCMS Ministers have regular meetings with Treasury Ministers on a range of issues.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to answer question 139706, tabled on 23 January 2013 for answer on 28 January 2013.

Hugh Robertson: I am sorry that the answer to the hon. Lady's question was delayed. This was due to a technical error in the Department's PQ tracking system. I understand the Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), has now answered this question—7 March 2013, Official Report, column 1151W.

CABINET OFFICE

Energy: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people are employed in the energy sector in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many people are employed in the energy sector in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber.
	Annual employment statistics are available from the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES). Table 1 below contains the latest figures available, which show the number in employment in 2011 for industries that are considered to be in the energy sector for Brigg and Goole constituency and Yorkshire and The Humber.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Employment in Brigg and Goole constituency and Yorkshire and The Humber for the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector 
			 Industry (SIC 2007) Brigg and Goole constituency Yorkshire and The Humber 
			 Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 100 10,000

Exports

Damian Hinds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of UK net export growth has come from developing and middle-income countries in the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to respond to your question to the Minister for Cabinet Office, asking what proportion of UK net export growth has come from developing and middle-income countries in the last five years. 146893
	There is no single definition of developing and middle-income countries. The World Bank (which has two institutions, managed by 188 member countries) identifies 108 countries they place in the lower middle income or upper middle income categories. A simpler definition, however, considers countries outside the G20 group(1). If they are taken as this set of countries, figures in current prices are as follows:
	
		
			 Export of goods, balance of payments basis 
			 £ billion 
			  G20 group Rest of the world World total 
			 2007 189.6 30.8 220.5 
			 2012 246.4 53.4 299.9 
			 Change between 2007 and 2012 56.8 22.5 79.4 
		
	
	Of the total change in UK exports of £79.4 billion between 2007 and 2012, £22.6 billion (28.4%) was accounted for by exports to countries outside of the G20.
	(1) Members of the G20 are:
	1. Argentina
	2. Australia
	3. Brazil
	4. Canada
	5. China
	6. France
	7. Germany
	8. India
	9. Indonesia
	10. Italy
	11. Japan
	12. Mexico
	13. Russia
	14. Saudi Arabia
	15. South Africa
	16. South Korea
	17. Turkey
	18. United Kingdom
	19. United States (inc Puerto Rico)
	20. European Union

Members: Correspondence

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire dated 22 November 2012 regarding the Major Projects Authority High Speed Rail 2 Report; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: I'd like to apologise for the inordinate delay in responding to this letter. The first I knew about it was when this PQ was tabled. I will investigate what has happened and reply to my hon. Friend shortly.

Patients: Death

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) observed and (b) expected deaths took place in all NHS trusts for which data is available in each year between 1997 and 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking The Secretary of Health how many (a) observed and (b) expected deaths took place in all NHS trusts for which data is available in each year between 1997 and 2010. (147263)
	The Office for National Statistics routinely report on deaths registered in England and Wales each year. We do not report on the number of expected deaths.
	Information collected at death registration does not identify which NHS Trust was managerially responsible for the patient's care at death. Although the name and address of the hospital where the death occurred is recorded, services provided on a single hospital site may be managed by several NHS Trusts or private contractors. It is therefore not possible to provide the number of deaths by NHS Trust. ONS can provide figures on deaths by any official geographical boundaries.
	Mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales by area of usual residence is published on the ONS website:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/deaths-registered-area-usual-residence/index.html

Pay

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much and what proportion of UK take home pay each decile of the UK population took home in each year for which data is available.

Mark Hoban: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	Figures shown are provided from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset and provide data on the weekly net earnings for the family by equivalised net income decile (Before Housing Costs).
	All figures are shown in cash terms (i.e. not adjusted for inflation). This means that the statistics presented are on a different basis to those in the HBAI publication.
	
		
			 Table 1: Weekly total net equivalised family earnings, in cash prices by equivalised income deciles (Before Housing Costs), 1994-95 to 2010-11, GB/UK 
			 £ million 
			  Decile 
			  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 
			 1994-95 41 47 81 159 244 347 450 579 766 1,419 
			 1995-96 37 53 89 166 246 350 454 600 815 1,426 
			 1996-97 43 56 103 182 273 388 498 651 861 1,554 
			 1997-98 51 64 117 206 307 418 538 692 925 1,648 
			 1998-99 51 68 124 218 317 432 575 731 969 1,892 
			 1999-2000 66 73 131 226 350 448 596 790 1,032 1,988 
			 2000-01 84 85 154 251 376 483 643 848 1,100 2,237 
			 2001-02 78 87 168 284 392 533 665 880 1,176 2,652 
			 2002-03 87 99 186 298 420 568 726 923 1,216 2,348 
			 2003-04 95 102 186 302 425 571 734 951 1,264 2,487 
			 2004-05 103 116 198 314 455 596 771 965 1,303 2,612 
			 2005-06 114 129 215 326 458 613 802 1,023 1,376 3,306 
			 2006-07 109 127 236' 355 494 653 828 1,073 1,452 2,854 
			 2007-08 113 139 250 371 517 699 874 1,148 1,547 2,986 
			 2008-09 130 153 266 387 533 696 917 1,154 1,617 3,663 
			 2009-10 120 164 259 389 528 699 909 1,170 1,555 3,323 
			 2010-11 130 176 266 375 529 703 906 1,173 1,567 3,147 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Proportion of total net equivalised family earnings, in cash prices by equivalised income deciles (Before Housing Costs), 1994-95 to 2010-11, GB/UK 
			 Percentage 
			  Decile 
			  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 
			 1994-95 1 1 2 4 6 8 11 14 19 34 
			 1995-96 1 1 2 4 6 8 11 14 19 34 
			 1996-97 1 1 2 4 6 8 11 14 19 34 
			 1997-98 1 1 2 4 6 8 11 14 19 33 
			 1998-99 1 1 2 4 6 8 11 14 18 35 
			 1999-2000 1 1 2 4 6 8 10 14 18 35 
			 2000-01 1 1 2 4 6 8 10 14 18 36 
			 2001-02 1 1 2 4 6 8 10 13 17 38 
		
	
	
		
			 2002-03 1 1 3 4 6 8 11 13 18 34 
			 2003-04 1 1 3 4 6 8 10 13 18 35 
			 2004-05 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 13 18 35 
			 2005-06 1 2 3 4 5 7 10 12 16 40 
			 2006-07 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 13 18 35 
			 2007-08 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 13 18 35 
			 2008-09 1 2 3 4 6 7 10 12 17 38 
			 2009-10 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 13 17 36 
			 2010-11 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 13 17 35 
			 Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the 2010-11 Family Resources Survey (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 2. Net earnings have been used to answer the question. This includes income from employment and self-employment. Some items of income may be under reported in the survey, particularly self-employment. Negative earnings, such as losses from self employment, have been zeroised. 3. Figures have been presented on a Before Housing Cost basis. For Before Housing Costs, housing costs are not deducted from income. 4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 5. The reference period for HBAI figures is the financial year. 6. Proportions of net earnings have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. 7. Incomes are presented in cash prices and have been rounded to the nearest million. 8. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 9. Figures are for the United Kingdom from 2002-03 onwards. Earlier years are for Great Britain only, as such there is a slight discontinuity between the figures pre and post 2002-03. Source: HBAI 1994-95 to 2010-11

Public Sector: Procurement

David Lammy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he plans to require all public sector contractors to outline the benefits of their contract to local communities and publish the number of local jobs and apprenticeships created as a result.

Chloe Smith: This Government determines its procurement according to value for money. It is for individual contracting authorities to determine what criteria are relevant to and will increase the benefit and value for money derived from a contract.

Unemployment: Young People

Helen Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many young people in Warrington North constituency are unemployed; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many young people in Warrington North constituency are unemployed; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010. (146924).
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of unemployment for the requested age band in Warrington North constituency are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative, we have provided the number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) in Warrington North constituency for the requested age band. The number of young people aged 18 to 24 years in Warrington North constituency claiming JSA for January 2013 was 695 and for May 2010 was 665.
	The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Unemployment: Young People

Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many young people aged between 18 and 24 are unemployed in Hendon constituency; and what the equivalent figure was for May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many young people aged between 18 and 24 are unemployed in Hendon constituency; and what the equivalent figure was for May 2010. (147273)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of unemployment for the requested age band in Hendon constituency are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative, we have provided the number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) in Hendon constituency for the requested age band. The number of young people aged 18 to 24 years in Hendon constituency claiming JSA for January 2013 was 425 and for May 2010 was 535.
	The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Vocational Guidance: Internet

Karen Buck: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reasons a tendering process was not used in respect of the establishment of the plotr careers website; what the current volume of usage is of that website; and what estimate he has made of future usage volumes.

Nick Hurd: plotr is a community interest company. It was established, and is led by a number of founding partners from industry. The services plotr provides were not outsourced and contracted by Her Majesty's Government so no tendering process was required.
	We do not hold data on the current volume of usage as plotr is still in beta-testing nor have we made specific estimates of future usage.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many young people took part in the National Citizen Service in 2011 and 2012;
	(2)  how many third sector organisations were involved in the National Citizen Service in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; and how many such organisations are involved currently;
	(3)  how much each local authority contributed to the National Citizen Service pilots in their areas in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(4)  how many young people signed up to take part in the National Citizen Service (NCS) in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012; and how many young people completed a NCS placement in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.

Nick Hurd: The independent NatCen evaluation, published in May 2012 includes details on participation and completion for the NCS pilots in 2011. The report is available here:
	http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media/898405/ncs-evaluation-interim-report.pdf
	and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. NatCen are currently evaluating the 2012 programme and their report will be published later this spring.
	In 2011, 10 voluntary and community sector organisations were commissioned to run National Citizen Service (NCS) pilots. The following year there were over 20 voluntary and community sector organisations involved. Over 120 organisations will be involved in the national and local delivery of NCS over the next two years, including more than 70 from the voluntary and community sector, alongside around 50 colleges and local authorities.
	Local authorities have not made a direct financial contribution to National Citizen Service.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of fatalities of UK service personnel in Afghanistan have been green-on-blue attacks in the latest period for which figures are available.

Andrew Robathan: The total number of UK service personnel fatalities in Afghanistan as of 8 March 2013 is 440; of which 24 were as a result of insider attacks.

Armed Forces: Animals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which animals other than dogs and horses are used by UK armed forces; and for what purposes such animals are used.

Mark Francois: The Royal Navy uses a number of birds of prey to keep birds away from airfields and other aircraft operational areas.
	The Army has three goats and one Swaledale ram, which it maintains as official mascots. In addition, a small range of farm animals, including pigs, geese, turkeys, ducks and chickens, are managed at a Fresh Start Farm which is run at the Military Corrective Training Centre. This farm is used to provide training, up to and including NVQ level, in animal husbandry for personnel, including those who are to be discharged.

Armed Forces: Housing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of re-housing soldiers and their families as part of the drawdown from Germany; and from which budget this money will come.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 7 March 2013
	I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), on 5 March 2013, Official Report, columns 846-48, in which he stated that the estimated cost of providing accommodation for soldiers returning from Germany is some £1 billion of the £1.8 billion total, which will come from the budget of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which operational pinch points will be exempt from redundancy under tranche 3 or 4.

Mark Francois: On 22 January 2013, the Army announced the fields from which they will select personnel to be made redundant in the third tranche of the armed forces redundancy programme. This will comprise up to 5,300 Army personnel. There is likely to be a need for a further tranche for Army personnel and medical and dental personnel from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force in due course.
	The operational pinch points that are exempt from the third tranche of the programme can be found in the following table. Operational pinch points for any future element of the redundancy programme have yet to be considered.
	Personnel employed in the main trades for pay (MTFP)(1) and ranks listed are excluded from redundancy. Additionally, personnel not yet employed in these MTFP but who are on a training course for employment in these areas are also excluded(2).
	
		
			 (a) Serial (b) Cap badge (c) MTFP/qualification/competency (d) Excluded rank(s) (e) Remarks 
			 1. Intelligence Corps Operator Military Intelligence Corporal—Warrant Officer Class 2 — 
			 2. Intelligence Corps Non/Applicable Captain—Major — 
			 3. Intelligence Corps Operator Military Intelligence (Linguist) Private—Warrant Officer Class 2 — 
			 4. Royal Engineers Military Engineer (Geographic Technician) Corporal—Sergeant — 
			 5. Royal Engineers Professionally Qualified Engineer Captain—Major — 
			 6. Royal Engineers Military Engineer (Engineer Logistic Specialist) Lance Corporal—Corporal — 
			 7. Royal Engineers Military Engineer (Fitter) (less Military Engineer (Fitter Air Conditioning and Refrigeration)) Lance Corporal — 
			 8. Royal Engineers Military Engineer (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Corporal — 
			 9. Royal Army Medical Corps Radiologist Major—Colonel — 
			 10. Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. Emergency Nurse Corporal—Warrant Officer Class 1  
			 11. Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Emergency Nurse Lieutenant—Captain — 
			 12. Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Infection Control Unit Nurse Corporal—Warrant Officer Class 1 — 
			 13. Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Infection Control Unit Nurse Lieutenant—Captain — 
			 14. Royal Army Veterinary Corps Veterinary Officer Major — 
			 15. Royal Army Medical Corps Anaesthetist Lieutenant Colonel—Colonel — 
			 16. Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Infection Protection Control Nursing Officer Captain—Major — 
			 17. Royal Army Veterinary Corps Dog Handler Private—Corporal — 
			 18. Royal SIGNALS Electronic Warfare Systems Operator Corporal—Sergeant — 
			 19. All Arms Defence Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operator (Joint) (Including High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Operator) Sergeant—Warrant Officer Class 1 (2)— 
			 20. All Arms Defence Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operator (Joint) (Including High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Operator) Lieutenant—Major (2)— 
			 21. All Arms Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operator Sergeant—Warrant Officer Class 1 Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operator Course Phase 1 & 2 in receipt of Specialist Pay (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) 
			 22. All Arms Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operator Lieutenant— Major Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operator Course Phase 1 & 2 in receipt of Specialist Pay (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) 
			 23. All Arms Human Intelligence Corporal—Warrant Officer Class 1 Qualified and employed in role within the last 24 months or currently under training 
			 24. All Arms Human Intelligence Lieutenant—Major Qualified and employed in role within the last 24 months or currently under training 
			 25. All Arms Defence Interrogator Corporal—Warrant Officer Class 1 Qualified and employed in role within the last 4 months or currently under training 
			 26. All Arms Defence Interrogator Lieutenant—Captain Qualified and employed in role within the last 24 months or currently under training 
			 (1 )Or holding the relevant Qualification or Competency. (2 )As at 22 January 2013.

Armed Forces: Training

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what resources have been made available to the armed forces for adventurous training in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Andrew Robathan: Budgets for armed forces adventurous training in each of the three services are shown in the following table. Figures for financial years (FY) 2010-11 and 201 1-12 reflect actual expenditure, while data for FY 2012-13 is a mixture of actual expenditure and a forecast for February and March. Figures for 2013-14 and 2014-15 reflect allocated budgets.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 Royal Navy 4.778 4.927 4.652 4.763 4.861 
			 Army 8.522 9.067 8.846 9.125 9.391 
			 RAF 7.270 7.175 7.461 7.590 7.805 
			 Total 20.570 21.169 20.959 21.478 22.057

Billing

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of undisputed invoices were paid by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies within five days in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Francois: Performance information on the payment of invoices by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) covers the whole of the Department including its trading fund agencies. Separate information for its agencies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	From May 2010 all Government Departments were asked to pay 80% of correctly presented invoices from suppliers within five working days.
	The most recent information on performance is as follows:
	
		
			 Period Number of invoices paid Percentage paid within five day target 
			 February 2013 334,127 93.03 
			 Rolling 12-month cumulative 3,781,464 91.52 
		
	
	Monthly MOD prompt payment statistics are published on the MOD website at the following address:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence/about/procurement
	Performance information is also published in the Department's annual report and accounts under ‘Payments to Suppliers’ and can be found on the MOD website at the following address:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-annual-report-2011-12

Defence Estates: Lisburn

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish details of any agreement reached between Defence Estates and the Clanmil Housing Association on the sale of surplus army housing in the Lisburn area; and if he will publish the price agreed for any property deemed to be surplus.

Mark Francois: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not yet reached any formal agreement to sell its former housing to the Clanmil Housing Association. Any sale would proceed on the basis of an agreed market value and, once it is completed, the principal terms and sale value will be a matter of public record, held by the Land Registry.

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Barnsley East of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 441W, on procurement, whether his Department has carried out an audit of its central bill paying process and controls since that answer; and if he will publish the results.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence is currently conducting a review of the purchase to pay system and a spend recovery audit. The management action plans are due to be published in autumn 2013. I will ensure that a copy is placed in the Library of the House.

Eastern Europe

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the security situation in (a) Bosnia and (b) Kosovo.

Andrew Robathan: Our current assessment of the security situation in Bosnia is that it is stable, although we are not yet sufficiently reassured that this stability is entrenched.
	The security situation in south Kosovo is assessed to be stable, though we are aware of sporadic outbreaks of unrest and violence in north Kosovo.

Electronic Warfare

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has developed rules of engagement for cyber operations.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 4 March 2013
	As the right hon. Member will know, rules of engagement are issued with the objectives of ensuring that action taken by UK forces is lawful and that such action is within the parameters of political acceptability, as determined by Ministers. They govern the use of force in its widest sense, from the firing of weapons and use of ordnance to any conduct of UK forces that could be interpreted as provocative.
	I am not willing either to confirm or to deny the existence of rules of engagement for cyber operations.

Marchwood Military Port

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the Sea Monitoring Centre at Marchwood as the UK's military port.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence made a commitment to sell the Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre during this spending review period in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) of October 2010. This was confirmed by my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff), in his written ministerial statement of 12 July 2012, Official Report, column 42WS.
	This remains the case. I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), on 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 857.

Military Bases

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which aspects of the autumn statement have caused a delay to the announcing of the basing review; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Hammond: The autumn statement raised two issues which needed to be taken into account which were a change to departmental spending totals and the new arrangements for accessing private finance.
	This work has now been completed. I refer the right hon. Member to the statement I made on 5 March 2013, Official Report, columns 846-848.

Military Bases

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Statement of 5 March 2013 on the Army Basing Plan, how much has been factored into future defence budgets from announced land disposals.

Andrew Robathan: Although the disposal of some sites formed part of the announcement, details of any pre-sale valuations obtained in advance of land disposals will not be released as their disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.

Military Bases: Air Force

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria are applied in deciding whether an air base is officially designated as an RAF base.

Andrew Robathan: The RAF prefix has been given to locations at which an establishment for a Station HQ exists, or where RAF units are based. Once used, this designation is generally retained while the location remains administered by the RAF.
	RAF bases that are made available to the United States Visiting Force remain UK sovereign territory and are supported by an RAF Commander. As such they continue to be designated as RAF bases.

Military Bases: Northern Ireland

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been received from the sale of each site of a former military base in Northern Ireland to date.

Mark Francois: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The principal bases sold since 2000 are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Site Location Receipt (£ million) Comment 
			 2001-02 Steeple Barracks Antrim County Antrim 2.1 — 
			 2002-03 Long Kesh Belfast Belfast 0 Gifted to Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) 
			 2002-03 Magherafelt Barracks Magherafelt County Londonderry 0 Gifted to NIE 
			 2002-03 Malone Barracks Belfast Belfast 0 Gifted to NIE 
			 2003-04 Ebrington Barracks Londonderry County Londonderry 0 Gifted to NIE 
			 2004-05 Clooney Barracks Londonderry County Londonderry 12 Sold to NIE 
			 2005-06 Girdwood Park Belfast Belfast 7 Sold to NIE 
			 2006-07 Killymeal Hse Dungannon County Tyrone 13.2 — 
			 2007-08 Clogher Base Clogher County Tyrone 1.2 — 
			 2007-08 Mahon Barracks Portadown County Armagh 31.3 — 
			 2007-08 Grosvenor Barracks Enniskillen County Fermanagh 15.4 Sold to NIE 
			 2007-08 Aughnacloy Aughnacloy County Tyrone 1.5 — 
			 2008-09 Crossgar Armaments Depot Crossgar County Down 0.4 — 
			 2010-11 Forkhill Forkhill County Armagh 0.7 Sold to NIE 
			 2011-12 Lisanelly Barracks Omagh County Tyrone 0 Gifted to NIE 
			 2011-12 St Patricks Barracks Ballymena County Antrim 0 Gifted to NIE 
			 2011-12 St Lucia Barracks Omagh County Tyrone 0 Gifted to NIE 
			 2011-12 Shackleton Barracks Ballykelly County Londonderry 0 Gifted to NIE

Military Police

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many members of the (a) Royal Navy Police and (b) Royal Air Force Police have received specialist training to conduct (i) Level 3 investigations and (ii) special investigations in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many members of the (a) Royal Navy Police and (b) Royal Air Force Police have received specialist training in the investigation of allegations of rape and sexual assault; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The following tables detail the number of Royal Navy Police, including the Royal Marine Police and the Royal Air Force Police who have received specialist training to conduct level 3 investigations and specialist investigations in each of the last three years:
	
		
			  Calendar year 
			 Course/Royal Navy Police 2010 2011 2012 
			 Serious Crime Investigations Course/level 3 investigations course 22 22 25 
		
	
	
		
			  Financial year 
			 Course/Royal Air Force Police 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Serious Crime Investigations Course 12 13 15 
		
	
	The Royal Air Force Police no longer use the terminology ‘level 3’ and ‘special’ investigations. These investigations are now termed ‘Serious Crime’ investigations and are investigated by Royal Air Force Police Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch personnel who have completed the Serious Crime Investigations Course (SCIC).
	The following tables provide the number of the Royal Navy Police, including Royal Marine Police and the Royal Air Force Police who have received specialist investigation training, which includes the investigation of allegations of rape and sexual assault:
	
		
			  Calendar year 
			 Course/Royal Navy Police 2010 2011 2012 
			 Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) 10 9 8 
			 Sexual offences Liaison Officer (SOLO) 0 0 8 
			 Sexual Offences Investigative Techniques (SOIT) 0 6 0 
			 Tier 3 Interviewing Suspect 3 0 2 
			 T2 Interviewing Suspect 0 0 3 
			 T2 Interviewing Witness 0 0 8 
			 Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) 0 1 11 
			 Senior Investigating Officer 1 2 2 
			 Family Liaison Officer (FLO) 0 0 4 
		
	
	
		
			  Financial year 
			 Course/Royal Air Force Police 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) 5 4 4 
			 Crime Scene Management (CSM) 1 1 0 
			 Crime Scene Examiners Development (CSED) 2 1 0 
			 Scientific Support Coordination (SSC) 0 0 0 
			 Forensic Laboratory Officer (FLO) 6 1 1 
			 Tier 2 Interviewing Witness 0 20 19 
			 Tier 3 Interviewing Witness 0 0 3 
			 Tier 3 Interviewing Suspect 1 0 1 
			 Tier 5 Interviewing Coordinator 0 1 0 
			 Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) Vulnerable Witnesses/Child Protection 0 2 0 
			 Initial Management of Serious Crime -IMSC 2 1 2 
			 Sexual Offences Investigative Techniques (SOIT) 6 0 0 
			 Combined Achieving Best Evidence and Sexual Offences Investigative Techniques (ABE/SOIT) 0 4 3 
			 Senior Investigating Officer—SIO 3 5 3 
		
	
	The number of the Royal Navy Police (including Royal Marine Police) and the Royal Air Force Police who retain existing CSI and SOIT skills, as of 31 December 2012 are:
	
		
			 Course/Royal Navy Police Training skills retained as of 31 December 2012 
			 CSI 18 
			 SOIT (including SOLO) 21 
		
	
	
		
			 Course/Royal Air Force Police Training skills retained as of 31 December 2012 
			 CSI 22 
			 SOIT 14

Radioactive Waste: Fife

Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to complete reports on the (a) factual investigation into radioactive substances at Dalgety bay and (b) interpretation of that factual evidence; and if he will place those reports in the Library.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence is currently awaiting the analytical data from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) for incorporation into the draft factual report. The final report will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.

Reserve Forces

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether the £1.8 billion allocated for Reserves 2020 covers the increased cost in training of new reservists;
	(2)  what the purpose is of his Department's allocation of £1.8 billion for Reserves 2020; and over what time period the sum has been allocated.

Mark Francois: holding answer 28 February 2013
	I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Armed Forces, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), on 3 September 2012, Official Report, columns 66-67W, to the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) and the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South (Bridget Phillipson).

Reserve Forces

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of (a) the strength of reserves to be held at readiness after the completion of reserves 2020 and (b) the change in the annual cost required to hold the new strength of reserves at readiness.

Mark Francois: holding answer 28 February 2013
	The Future Reserves Programme is expected to deliver a trained strength of around 35,000 personnel.
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has allocated an additional £1.8 billion to deliver the Future Reserves 2020 capability. The cost of that capability, when delivered, is the subject of ongoing work; the House will be informed by a White Paper which we intend to publish in the spring.

Reserve Forces

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the full steady-state costs of a (a) fully-manned regular infantry battalion and (b) fully-manned Territorial Army infantry battalion will be after the implementation of the Army 2020 and Future Reserves 2020 initiatives;
	(2)  what the comparable full costs are of training and equipping a Territorial Army infantry battalion and a regular battalion under the Army 2020 and Future Reserves 2020 initiatives;
	(3)  what the full costs of mobilising a Territorial Army infantry battalion for operations over a 12-month period will be following the Future Reserves 2020 reforms.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 7 March 2013
	The future cost of a fully manned, trained and equipped infantry battalion, whether regular or reserve, under Army 2020, in either steady state or mobilised, will vary depending on the size of the battalion, the type of role they are fulfilling, the manpower mix and the nature of any operation they might undertake.
	Our understanding of these costs will continue to develop in the light of our future arrangements for using reserves which will be informed by the forthcoming White Paper.

Reserve Forces

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current declared deployable capacity of Territorial Army battalions is.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 7 March 2013
	Our policy in recent years has generally been to use reservists as individual reinforcements to serve alongside their regular counterparts.
	The current trained strength of the Territorial Army is around 19,000. All of these individuals have a liability to be deployed.
	In future, we plan to deploy reservists in formed sub-units as part of our plans to use the reserves more. We plan to expand the trained strength to 30,000.

Reserve Forces: Employment

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department plans to take to incentivise businesses to employ reservists.

Mark Francois: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 October 2012, Official Report, column 986W, to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis).

Reserve Forces: Employment

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that employers cannot discriminate against reservists.

Mark Francois: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The Reserve Forces, Safeguard of Employment Act 1985, provides some protection of a mobilised reservist's civilian employment. Through the recent consultation exercise we have worked to improve our understanding of concerns about discrimination and disadvantage experienced by reservists who are seeking employment, and are considering carefully how to respond to them. Details of our proposals will be set out in a White Paper, which we intend to publish in the spring.

Staff

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many staff in his Department are working on the next Strategic Defence and Security Review;
	(2)  how many people his Department employs to formulate defence strategy.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 7 March 2013
	Defence strategy represents the Ministry of Defence's overall contribution to national strategy, setting out the most appropriate ways of achieving long-term policy objectives within the resources available. Preparations for the next Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015, which will be co-ordinated by the National Security Council and Cabinet Office, are already under way within MOD. This includes a broad programme of activity overseen by the Defence Strategy Group, co-chaired by the Permanent Under-Secretary and the Chief of Defence Staff, that is examining possible changes in the future strategic context, considering the policy options in response, and testing the continued validity of Future Force 2020. This work is being led and co-ordinated by a core team of 10 personnel in the Defence Strategy and Priorities branch, but involves a wider range of staff and organisations within the Head Office and across MOD. It also features close engagement with other Government Departments.

Veterans

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the cost of (a) recreational facilities, (b) entertainment and (c) dining for retired officers in each of the last three financial years.

Mark Francois: holding answer 25 February 2013
	There are no specific recreational facilities for retired officers. As part of the policy for engagement with retired senior officers, rear-admiral and higher, the naval service has for many years hosted an annual update, the cost of which has totalled some £4,500 over the past three financial years. However, in general there has been no official entertainment or dining intended for retired officers that has incurred a cost to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in the previous three financial years.

Veterans: Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many individuals who left the armed forces in (a) tranche 1 and (b) tranche 2 found work lasting for (i) six months and (ii) 12 months after going through the Career Transition Partnership;
	(2)  how many people who left the armed forces found work lasting for (a) six months and (b) 12 months after going through the Career Transition Partnership in 2011-12;
	(3)  how many people who left the armed forces did not find work lasting for (a) six months and (b) 12 months after going through the Career Transition Partnership in 2011-12.

Mark Francois: holding answer 1 March 2013
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold information on the duration of employment secured by service leavers.
	For details of the proportions of service leavers who are in employment at the six month and 12 month point, I refer the right hon. Member to the statement I made on 22 January 2013, Official Report, column, 171. Information on the employment status of non applicants under tranche 1 of the Armed Forces Redundancy programme, and both applicants and non-applicants under tranche 2 is not yet available. The dates by which they were or are due to leave service are September 2012, December 2012 and June 2013 respectively.

Veterans: Mortgages

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department offers to veterans who were injured in service and are seeking to secure a mortgage.

Mark Francois: holding answer 27 February 2013
	It is important that injured personnel are given the support they need to make a successful transition to civilian life including in the area of accommodation. Prior to leaving the armed forces all service leavers who are being discharged on medical grounds are entitled to the full resettlement programme. This includes a three day Career Transition Workshop, use of a career consultant, a job finding service, retraining time and retraining grant.
	Regular briefings on civilian housing information, including social and private schemes, are given to service personnel. In line with the Armed Forces Covenant, the Government remains committed to ensuring that members of the armed forces are not disadvantaged in their access to housing, whether it be home ownership, private rented accommodation or social housing. Members of the armed forces are given the highest priority for the Government's FirstBuy scheme, and placed at the top of the priority list for all other Government-funded home ownership schemes, such as shared ownership.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has set aside £1.7 million disabled facilities grant for home adaptations so that ex-service personnel returning from active duty with serious injuries can live independently at home with dignity and respect. The 2012 annual Covenant report acknowledges that more needs to be done in this area to increase awareness of this grant and DCLG has asked Foundations, the national body for home improvement agencies, to work with the Royal British Legion and local authorities on this issue.
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) cannot provide financial advice, but we work with organisations such as the White Ensign Association who can assist veterans who receive significant sums of money from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. The MOD also provides the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency Veterans Welfare Service which provides free, confidential and personal advice on a variety of financial, health, employment and welfare issues.
	In addition, we plan to launch a financial awareness website—MoneyForce—shortly which is aimed to assist service personnel better manage their finances and plan for their financial future. That website will be available to veterans as well.
	We are not, however, complacent about the support we provide to veterans. In 2012 Lord Ashcroft was appointed as Special Representative for Veterans Transition. In this role he will provide the MOD with advice on how we can further support those leaving the armed forces. The review will consider all aspects of transition including employment, health, housing and education. It is expected that Lord Ashcroft will produce an interim report to the Secretary of State for Defence by the end of 2013, with more comprehensive recommendations being made during 2014.

World War II: Military Decorations

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Bomber Command Clasp and Arctic Convoy Medal will be available; and what the criteria for awarding those medals will be.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements he has made to award Bomber Command clasps to deceased veterans and their families.

Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Members’ to my written ministerial statement of 26 February 2013, Official Report, column 19WS.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding her Department has allocated for women's shelters in Afghanistan; and how many shelters her Department will be supporting with this funding.

Justine Greening: Upholding women's rights is an important element of DFID's strategy in Afghanistan. Last week, I announced that DFID Afghanistan's country plan will make tackling violence against women and girls a country strategic priority. This will be taken into account when designing programmes in future.
	DFID is continuing to combine our efforts with international partners to ensure that the Afghan Government upholds its constitutional obligations on women's rights, including implementation of the Elimination of Violence Against Women law.

British Overseas Territories

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full-time equivalent civil servants in her Department are working on matters related to the UK Overseas Territories.

Alan Duncan: On 1 March 2013, DFID had 23 full-time equivalent civil servants working on matters relating to the UK Overseas Territories.

Burma

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what amount of debt is currently owed to the UK by Burma.

Alan Duncan: The UK had approximately £56 million outstanding debt owed by Burma at end 2012. In line with the Paris Club agreement, reached on the 24 and 25 January 2013, the UK will provide 50% cancellation of arrears due to the UK, with remaining amounts rescheduled over 15 years, with a seven year grace period. The exact amount of cancellation is to be determined following the detailed reconciliation of debt numbers with Burma.

Consultants

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of her Department's budget is spent by outside consulting companies.

Justine Greening: DFID spend on consultancy for the last full financial year 2011-12 was £0.7 million. This has fallen 50% from £1.4 million since May 2010 when DFID implemented the cross-government spending controls.

Consultants

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what monitoring her Department undertakes of the performance of consulting companies engaged in the delivery of UK aid programmes.

Justine Greening: DFID conducts regular reviews to monitor the performance of projects, including those being delivered by suppliers. Programme teams at the front-line monitor and manage the day to day performance of suppliers engaged in the delivery of UK aid programmes. I am taking steps to strengthen the monitoring of supplier performance across DFID and recently met with representatives from our 12 largest suppliers.

Developing Countries: Economic Situation

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the potential of major recipients of international development funding from her Department to contribute to world economic growth in the next decade.

Lynne Featherstone: Last year, six of the 15 fastest growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa. DFID estimates that over the next decade, the major recipients of aid will contribute an additional $3 trillion at today's prices to the global economy. We estimate that this will represent around 11% of total global growth. These estimates are based on the best currently available data and our judgment regarding realistic growth paths but, as with all projections, there are large uncertainties around long-term forecasts.

Developing Countries: Human Rights

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations she has received about the establishment within her Department's priority countries of safe places for community organisations and local people to advocate their rights.

Lynne Featherstone: As of 7 March 2013, the DFID has received three separate pieces of written correspondence from Members of Parliament on this specific issue.

Developing Countries: Infectious Diseases

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans her Department has to tackle HIV and Hepatitis C co-infections in developing countries; whether she will support the inclusion of Hepatitis C and HIV co-infections in the next UNITAID strategy; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government believes the interaction between HIV and Hepatitis C co-infections is most effectively tackled by strengthening health systems and services overall, with the aim of supporting an integrated approach to health services delivery.
	It is not in UNITAID's mission or mandate to tackle any co-infections. However, UNITAID will undertake some analysis to see if and whether particular co-morbidities should be addressed because they have an impact on tackling HIV, TB or Malaria, and whether any of the market dynamics around co-morbidities lend themselves to the sort of market interventions that UNITAID can pursue.

Developing Countries: Poverty

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations she has made to those countries in receipt of UK aid, and which possess nuclear weapons systems, to increase their efforts to eradicate poverty amongst their own populations.

Alan Duncan: We work closely with the Governments of both Pakistan and India to assist poverty reduction. In addition to DFID's bilateral programme the UK Government regularly works with the Pakistan Government to encourage its own poverty reduction efforts, and in India DFID will do so in a changed partnership to which the written ministerial statement to the House on 9 November 2012, Official Report, column 51WS, refers.

International Assistance

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money was transferred in (a) bilateral aid and (b) multilateral aid from the (i) UK and (ii) EU in the last three years.

Lynne Featherstone: The publication “Statistics on International Development (SID) 2012” provides information on how official UK financial resources for international development are spent. The total money transferred from the UK through (a) bilateral aid and (b) multilateral aid are shown as follows.
	
		
			 A. UK bilateral aid 
			  (a) UK bilateral aid (ODA) (£ million) 
			 2009 4,732 
			 2010 5,191 
			 2011 5,286 
		
	
	
		
			 B. UK Multilateral aid 
			  (b) UK multilateral aid (GPEX) (£ million) 
			 2009-10 2,749 
			 2010-11 3,462 
			 2011-12 3,462 
		
	
	The publication “EuropeAid Annual Report” for years 2010 to 2012 provides information on how EU financial resources for international development are spent. The total money transferred from the EU through (a) bilateral aid and (b) multilateral aid is shown as follows.
	
		
			 A. EU bilateral aid 
			  (b) EU Bilateral ODA (€ million) 
			 2009 9,508 
			 2010 9,662 
			 2011 8,965 
		
	
	
		
			 B. EU multilateral aid 
			  (b) EU Multilateral ODA (€ million) 
			 2009 292 
			 2010 179 
			 2011 248

Rwanda

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on which (a) organisations and (b) projects the recently announced development support for Rwanda will be spent.

Justine Greening: This Government is reducing the proportion of development assistance given as general budget support. In 2009-10, 13.5% of DFID’s country and regional programmes was general budget support. This fell to 6.58% in 2011-12.
	As announced in my written ministerial statement of 1 March 2013, Official Report, columns 47-48WS, I have reprogrammed £16 million of withheld general budget support and reinvested these funds in directly targeted help for the poorest people in Rwanda.
	In contrast to the reprogramming approach, I have taken, general budget support goes to the recipient Government’s central budget, and can be spent by the recipient Government in accordance with its own approach to poverty reduction.
	Our package of support will deliver:
	1.81 million textbooks and supplementary readers for students in primary and secondary schools.
	Support for early childhood development across Rwanda for 1,000 vulnerable young children and their families, delivered by UNICEF.
	Support for education and disability projects, working with 270 schools to improve the use of learner centred and inclusive methods by 3,240 teachers, delivered by Voluntary Service Overseas.
	Cash transfers to around 545,000 of the poorest individuals, through the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP) social protection programme.
	Improved emergency preparedness to support potential arrival of up to 20,000 additional refugees in Rwanda from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, delivered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
	Strengthened research about genocide and reconciliation and to deliver peace-building interventions, delivered by the Aegis Trust.

Sahel

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to support and strengthen the role of local organisations delivering humanitarian aid in the Sahel.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK does not directly support any local organisations delivering humanitarian aid in the Sahel.
	However, many of the international organisations the UK supports to provide humanitarian aid in the Sahel do rely heavily on local organisations to deliver high quality programmes; and these organisations invest accordingly in the capacity of their partners.

Syria

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on increasing the number of emergency resettlement places available to Syrian refugees.

Justine Greening: The cabinet regularly discusses the situation in Syria and the region, including the impact on refugees in host countries. Our assessment is that the best way to support the Syrian people is to ensure they are as close to their extended family and local support networks as possible. As such we are providing £139.5 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the crisis both inside Syria and in the region.

Syria

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the UK's contribution has been to the $1 billion appeal for the UN Syria Regional Response Plan.

Justine Greening: The UK announced £50 million for the UN's 2013 Syria appeals at the High Level Pledging Conference in Kuwait on 30 January, bringing our total humanitarian support to date to £139.5 million.

EDUCATION

Academies: Transport

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the extent to which academies are constrained by the policies of local education authorities in arranging transport for their pupils.

David Laws: For home to school transport purposes, academies are treated the same as maintained schools. Local authorities must provide free transport for pupils attending a school further from home than the statutory walking distances and for children unable to walk to school because of their special educational need, disability or mobility problems. Additional support is available for children from low-income families who meet the eligibility criteria. Local authorities have discretion to provide transport for all other children.

Children: Poverty

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to reduce child poverty in Beckenham.

David Laws: The Government is committed to eradicating child poverty, and has introduced a series of reforms designed to tackle the root causes of child poverty, and to ensure that children are not disadvantaged simply by the circumstances of their birth. We have plans to introduce universal credit, which will simplify the benefit system and ensure that work is always the best option, and have allocated £200 million extra into child care under the universal credit to help 100,000 more families with children take the first steps into work. We have provided more nursery and pre-school provision, giving 260,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds 15 hours a week, and 20% more hours of free pre-school for all three and four-year-olds. We have invested in education, with the £2.5 billion pupil premium for disadvantaged pupils and £1.2 billion for capital investment in schools, and we have raised the tax threshold, which will lift more than 2 million people out of paying tax altogether.
	Under the Child Poverty Act, each local authority is required to do a needs assessment of child poverty in its area and, working with partners, introduce a local strategy to tackle the local problems. The Government believes that it is local authorities that understand the local situation best, and can therefore design effective strategies for tackling child poverty at a local level, supported by our wide-ranging national action.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will assess the potential effects of the pupil premium on the gap between per pupil funding between Swindon and Wiltshire in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

David Laws: Total pupil premium funding will rise from £1.25 billion in 2012-13 to £1.875 billion in 2013-14. This will enable the level of funding for the deprivation and looked after child premium to increase to £900 per pupil and the service child premium to increase to £300 per pupil. Illustrative pupil premium allocations using January 2012 pupil numbers show that Swindon local authority will receive approximately £6.210 million of pupil premium funding in 2013-14 for 7,040 eligible pupils. Illustrative pupil premium allocations show that Wiltshire local authority will receive approximately £10.136 million of pupil premium funding in 2013-14 for 14,590 eligible pupils. Final allocations for 2013-14 based on 2013 pupil numbers will be published in the autumn. Pupil premium funding figures for 2014-15 are not yet available but total pupil premium funding will rise from £1.875 billion to £2.5 billion in 2014-15 .
	The pupil premium may affect the difference in per pupil funding between authorities due to different areas having varying levels of disadvantaged pupils but this is not the premium's primary aim. The pupil premium is intended to recognise that disadvantaged pupils need extra support and provide additional funding, for these children to help raise their attainment.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much pupil premium funding has been allocated in (a) Swindon and (b) Wiltshire to date; and how many pupils received such funding in each area.

David Laws: In the financial year 2011-12, the pupil premium was set at £488 per pupil for deprived pupils and looked-after children and £200 for the service premium. There were 4,520 pupils attending schools in Swindon local authority area eligible for the deprivation premium, the looked-after child premium or service child premium, attracting £2.165 million, and 10,000 pupils attending schools in Wiltshire local authority area were eligible for the deprivation premium, the looked-after child premium or service child premium, attracting £3.572 million.
	In the financial year 2012-13, the pupil premium has been set at £623 per pupil for the deprived pupils and looked-after children and £250 for the service premium. There are 7,040 pupils attending schools in Swindon local authority area eligible for the deprivation premium, the looked-after child premium or service child premium, attracting £4.308 million, and 14,590 pupils attending schools in Wiltshire local authority that are were eligible for the deprivation premium, the looked-after child premium or service child premium, attracting £7.228 million.
	In 2013-14, total pupil premium funding will rise to £900 per pupil for deprived pupils and looked-after children and the service child premium will increase to £300 per pupil. Illustrative pupil premium allocations using January 2012 pupil numbers show that Swindon local authority will receive approximately £6.210 million of pupil premium funding in 2013-14 for 7,040 eligible pupils attending schools in Swindon local authority. Illustrative pupil premium allocations also show that Wiltshire local authority will receive approximately £10.136 million of pupil premium funding in 2013-14 for 14,590 eligible pupils attending schools in Wiltshire local authority. Final allocations for 2013-14 will be available this summer when pupil numbers from the January 2013 school census are confirmed.

Schools: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress his Department has made in implementing a new national funding formula for schools in England.

David Laws: We have committed to introducing a new national funding formula during the next spending review period. As a first step towards that, we have made a number of important changes to the school funding system for 2013-14.
	We have rationalised and simplified the formula factors that local authorities can use to allocate funding to their schools so that there is greater consistency and transparency. The calculation of budgets for academies will also be clearer and will follow the same timetable as maintained schools.
	We have also transformed funding arrangements for pupils with high needs, so that it can support the improvements in choice and quality which we have set out in our Children and Families Bill.
	We are in the process of reviewing the effects of the new funding arrangements for 2013-14 and on the basis of this review we will consider whether to make changes for 2014-15 in order to move us closer to a national funding formula.

Schools: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on improving the system of per pupil funding in England.

David Laws: The Government has acknowledged that the current system for funding schools is unfair and out of date. We have committed to introducing a national funding formula in the next spending review period. The national funding formula will reassess need across the different local authorities in England and we will allocate funding accordingly, with the majority of funding being based on pupil numbers.

Schools: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's commitment to extend the minimum funding guarantee beyond 2014-15.

David Laws: We have not yet made an assessment of the Minimum Funding Guarantee beyond 2014-15 because this falls in the next spending review period. We expect the education budget for 2015/16 to be set later this year in the Spending Review

Schools: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on closing the gap between the best and worst funded local authorities for school funding.

David Laws: We have received several representations from local authorities, hon. members representing relatively lower funded local authorities and the campaign group F40 about addressing the funding gap.

Schools: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on the effects on smaller schools of changes in school funding.

David Laws: We have received representations from a few local authorities (including hon. Members representing, and head teachers working, in schools in those authorities) about the effects of the new funding arrangements for 2013-14 on small schools. These are mainly large rural authorities with several small schools. We recognise the vital role of small schools in rural communities and the new funding arrangements are not designed to disadvantage small schools in any way.
	We are currently conducting a review of the new funding arrangements for 2013-14. Officials from the Department of Education have visited Bradford, Cumbria, East Sussex, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Somerset, Staffordshire and Worcestershire to discuss how the new funding arrangements has impacted their schools.
	On 12 February, we published a document, ‘Review of 2013-14 School Funding Arrangements’, which summarises how the 2013-14 reforms have been implemented. We are seeking views from governors, head teachers and local authorities on a number of specific issues, including on small schools in sparsely populated areas, that have been raised. A copy of this document is available at:
	http://tinyurl.com/schoolsrevenuefunding
	On the basis of this review, which also includes analysis of all local authority funding formulae, we will consider whether we need to make small changes in 2014-15 in order to address some of the issues raised.

Schools: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on the effects on primary schools of changes in school funding.

David Laws: We have received representations from a few local authorities about the impact of the new funding arrangements for 2013-14, including its effects on primary schools.
	We are currently conducting a review of the new funding arrangements for 2013-14. Officials from the Department of Education have visited 11 local authorities to discuss the impact of new funding arrangements on their schools.
	On 12 February, we published a document, ‘Review of 2013-14 School Funding Arrangements’, which summarises how the 2013-14 reforms have been implemented. We are seeking views from governors, head teachers and local authorities on a number of specific issues that have been raised. A copy of this document is available at:
	http://tinyurl.com/schoolsrevenuefunding
	On the basis of this review, which also includes analysis of all local authority funding formulae, we will consider whether we need to make small changes in 2014-15 in order to address some of the issues raised.

Schools: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the national average per pupil unit of funding for schools was in (a) Swindon, (b) Reading and (c) England in the last year for which figures are available.

David Laws: In 2012-13 (the last year for which figures are available), Swindon was allocated a guaranteed per pupil unit of funding of £4,696.48 and Reading was allocated a guaranteed per pupil unit of funding £5,287.21. The average guaranteed per pupil unit of funding in England for 2012-13 is £5,082.84.

Schools: Sports

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects Ofsted to publish its report on sport in schools; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: holding answer 4 February 2013
	Ofsted's report—Physical Education in Schools 2008-12—was published on 14 February. A copy of the report can be found at:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/physical-education-schools-200508-working-towards-2012-and-beyond

Schools: Swindon

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on the effects of funding changes for education in Swindon.

David Laws: The Department for Education has not received any representations from Swindon.

Supplementary Schools

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of supplementary schools in raising educational attainment among children from black and minority ethnic backgrounds; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: holding answer 5 March 2013
	Supplementary schools offer educational opportunities for children and young people outside mainstream school provision. They usually cater for minority ethnic communities and are voluntary organisations, often run by volunteers.
	In February 2010, the Department published research on the impact of supplementary schools by the London Metropolitan University and the National Centre for Social Research. This research estimated that between 3% and 8% of all pupils aged five to 16 were in contact with supplementary schools at any one time.
	A full copy of the report can also be found here:
	https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DCSF-RR210

Teachers: Training

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what change there has been in the number of teacher training places at each higher education institution providing such training between 2011-12 and 2013-14.

David Laws: holding answer 11 February 2013
	Over the period of academic years 2011/12 to 2013/14, there has been an increase of 2,412 postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) places, a decrease of 329 undergraduate ITT places and a decrease of 22 employment-based (salaried) places in total for higher education institutions (HEIs) in England.
	The following table shows allocated ITT places for each HEI in academic years 2011/12 and 2013/14 and the changes:
	
		
			 HEI name 2011/12 place 2013/14 places Changes 
			 Anglia Ruskin University 241 222 -19 
			 Bath Spa University 468 565 97 
			 Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln 470 547 77 
			 Brunel University 294 247 -47 
			 Canterbury Christ Church University 1,308 1,473 165 
			 Central School of Speech and Drama 21 19 -2 
			 University of Chester 331 466 135 
			 University College Plymouth St Mark and St John 432 387 -45 
			 Edge Hill University 1,326 1,571 245 
			 Goldsmiths University 440 376 -64 
			 Institute of Education, University of London 985 1,415 430 
			 Keele University 203 167 -36 
			 University of Winchester 376 375 -1 
			 King's College London 205 222 17 
			 Kingston University 308 305 -3 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 245 263 18 
			 Liverpool Hope University 720 783 63 
			 Liverpool John Moores University 374 323 -51 
			 London Metropolitan University 305 213 -92 
			 Loughborough University 96 105 9 
			 Manchester Metropolitan University 1,019 1,194 175 
			 Newman University College. 564 521 -43 
			 Nottingham Trent University 452 421 -31 
			 The Open University 200 180 -20 
			 Oxford Brookes University 470 423 -47 
			 Sheffield Hallam University 765 833 68 
			 London South Bank University 340 246 -94 
			 University of Cumbria 1,349 1,391 42 
		
	
	
		
			 St Mary's University College, Twickenham 543 605 62 
			 Staffordshire University 51 64 13 
			 Leeds Trinity University College 284 328 44 
			 University of Chichester 462 535 73 
			 University of Northampton 251 394 143 
			 University of Worcester 565 640 75 
			 University of Bath 132 141 9 
			 University of Birmingham 318 396 78 
			 University of Brighton 689 746 57 
			 University of Bristol 215 215 0 
			 University of Cambridge 416 429 13 
			 Birmingham City University 548 580 32 
			 University of Derby 262 358 96 
			 University of Durham 357 394 37 
			 University of East Anglia 348 368 20 
			 University of East London 568 587 19 
			 University of Exeter 537 547 10 
			 University of Gloucestershire 355 436 81 
			 University of Greenwich 444 491 47 
			 University of Hertfordshire 530 481 -49 
			 University of Huddersfield 119 111 -8 
			 University of Hull 384 440 56 
			 University of Leeds 310 228 -82 
			 University of Leicester 312 263 -49 
			 University of Manchester 368 454 86 
			 University of Nottingham 290 412 122 
			 University of Oxford 184 209 25 
			 University of Plymouth 375 396 21 
			 University of Portsmouth 117 124 7 
			 University of Reading 480 504 24 
			 University of Sheffield 130 43 -87 
			 University of Southampton 440 362 -78 
			 University of Sunderland 398 330 -68 
			 Roehampton University 654 829 175 
			 University of Sussex 198 205 7 
			 University of the West of England 421 485 64 
			 University of Warwick 395 416 21 
			 University of Wolverhampton 512 479 -33 
			 University of York 129 157 28 
			 York St John University 383 449 66 
			 Middlesex University 403 469 66 
			 Northumbria University 339 394 55 
			 University of Newcastle 207 180 -27 
			 University College Birmingham 46 63 17 
			 University of Bedfordshire 437 284 -153

WORK AND PENSIONS

Welfare Benefits: Non-UK Citizens

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to review eligibility criteria for welfare benefit claimants who are non-UK citizens.

Steve Webb: We already have strict rules in place to ensure that migrants cannot take advantage of our benefit system. We are currently reviewing what more we can do to reform and strengthen our rules on benefit entitlement.

Child Poverty

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the provisions of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill on the number of children growing up in poverty.

Steve Webb: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore) on 15 January 2013, Official Report, columns 715-17W.

Housing Associations: Infrastructure Requirements

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support the Government is providing to housing associations to meet the additional infrastructure requirements contained in the Welfare Reform Act 2012.

Steve Webb: We engaged early with other Departments, social landlords and local authorities to explore the impact of this measure on landlords.
	We have also worked closely with the Chartered Institute of Housing to produce the guidance “Making it Fit” which is available on their website. This is specifically aimed at social landlords and how to manage the spare room subsidy and provide support to their tenants. It includes examples of good practice and experience sharing and is regularly updated.

Attendance Allowance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2013, Official Report, column 338W, on carer's allowance, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) cases and (b) households in receipt of two payments of attendance allowance in order that each person can care for the other.

Esther McVey: Attendance allowance (AA) provides a contribution towards the disability-related extra costs of older people. AA is flexible and recipients can spend the benefit in a way that best meets their individual needs. The entitlement conditions for carer's allowance (CA) must be met separately.
	For this PQ, we have presumed that the question relates to cases and households in receipt of two payments of both attendance allowance and carer's allowance.
	Our answer on 23 January 2013 provided the number of cases where two individuals were both in receipt of a carer's allowance payment for caring for each other (1,070 cases). This included pairs where both individuals receive disability living allowance (DLA), where both receive AA, and where one individual receives DLA and the other receives AA.
	At February 2012 the number of cases where two individuals were both in receipt of AA and were both in receipt of a CA payment for caring for each other was 135. This is a subset of the group of 1,070 cases.
	It is not possible to determine how many of these individuals are part of the same household without incurring disproportionate cost.
	Source:
	DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study

Employment and Support Allowance

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely duration of the gap in payment while mandatory reconsideration takes place when a claimant appeals a refusal of employment and support allowance.

Esther McVey: The length of time taken to complete mandatory reconsideration will vary from case to case and will be dependent on whether any additional evidence is required, and if so how quickly it is provided by the claimant. In any case where the Department requests additional evidence regulations state that the Department must allow claimants one month to supply it, so these cases could take in excess of one month to process.
	The Department aims to complete mandatory reconsideration without unnecessary delays, but the focus of the process is to ensure that the decision has been fully reviewed in light of any new evidence and explained to the claimant and this process will take time to complete. It would be difficult to give an estimate of the average time this process will take since it is new and untried, and processing times are likely to range from a few days to a number of weeks depending on the complexity of the case.
	In employment and support allowance cases, no benefit is payable once the claim has been disallowed on the grounds that a claimant does not have limited capability for work. This also applies to the period while the mandatory reconsideration process is being undertaken, as there are no legal grounds to make any payment of ESA while this process is completed. If a claimant chooses to appeal following mandatory reconsideration ESA can be paid at the assessment phase rate pending the appeal hearing. The payment will cover the period of the mandatory reconsideration so there will not be a gap.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living outside the UK are currently in receipt of employment and support allowance; and how many such people had their last UK address in Preston constituency.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many people living outside Great Britain are currently in receipt of employment and support allowance can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?paae=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf
	Statistics for Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Department for Social Development and can be found at:
	http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research.htm
	Statistics on how many such people had their last UK address in Preston are not readily available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people whose application for employment and support allowance has been rejected, who face a gap in payments whilst awaiting the outcome of a mandatory reconsideration, and who will not apply for jobseeker's allowance because they do not feel capable of actively seeking work; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that people in such circumstances receive adequate support.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not available.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of employment and support allowance have been referred to mandatory work placements in each month since the scheme started.

Mark Hoban: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to his previous question of 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 976W.

Employment Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many funding streams for which his Department is responsible can be drawn down in each local authority area to tackle unemployment.

Mark Hoban: While my Department remains committed to maintaining a national benefit system and key national employment programmes, this national framework creates freedoms for local partners, including local authorities, to work in partnership to identify gaps and reduce or remove duplication. By doing so we can ensure discretionary funds are targeted at areas where they will have the maximum effect. Examples of this include Work programme providers having freedom to pool or align funds locally; Jobcentre Plus managers having discretionary funds where they can work in partnership with local authorities; piloting of the Right to Control funds across 12 local authority areas; and Jobcentre Plus working closely with local authorities through Community Budgets and City Deals.

Employment: Females

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the number of women in work.

Mark Hoban: There are more women in work than ever before. In the last year alone female employment rose by a quarter of a million, the largest increase in over 10 years.

Housing Benefit

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 605W, on housing benefit, what plans are in place to support local authorities whose discretionary housing payments exceed 2.5 times the Government contribution to such payments for that year.

Steve Webb: Legislation does not permit local authorities to spend more than two and a half times the government contribution towards discretionary housing payments.
	Discretionary housing payments have been in existence since 2001, therefore local authorities have a number of years experience of managing their individual allocation of funds. Local authorities are advised in advance how much funding they will receive towards discretionary housing payments for the year and can budget accordingly.
	We are monitoring and evaluating the current reforms to housing benefit, including the use and expenditure on discretionary housing payments.
	The management and administration of discretionary housing payments is the responsibility of local authorities who are best placed to make local decisions on how the funding is spent.

Housing Benefit: Nottingham

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what additional funding for discretionary housing payments has been allocated to Nottingham city council for 2013-14.

Steve Webb: Nottingham city council has been allocated £696,000 towards discretionary housing payments for 2013-14.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of changes to rates of (a) fostering and (b) taking in lodgers by those affected by planned changes in housing benefit.

Steve Webb: It is too early to tell what impact ending the spare room subsidy will have on certain groups and what choices people will make. However, an additional £5 million has been allocated to the discretionary housing payment scheme, specifically aimed at supporting foster carers who may be affected by this measure.
	It is not anticipated that this measure will impact the number of foster carers.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in Wolverhampton South East constituency who will be affected by the housing benefit under-occupancy penalty; and what the average change in such benefit will be.

Steve Webb: Impacts of ending the spare room subsidy are not available at parliamentary constituency level. The average loss of benefit for all working age claimants will be £14.00 per week.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which rooms in the home of a housing benefit claimant occupying a social sector property are to be regarded as bedrooms for the purposes of assessing liability for the under-occupancy penalty; and if he will make a statement.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how the Government plans to define a bedroom for the purpose of assessing under-occupancy.

Steve Webb: The removal of the spare room subsidy will take account of the number of bedrooms as designated by the landlord. The number of bedrooms within a property is a matter between the landlord and tenant.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of households which will be affected by both the changes to housing benefit under-occupancy rules and by changes to council tax benefit; and if he will estimate what the average cash or benefit will be for such households as a result of these two changes.

Steve Webb: Estimates of how many people will be affected by the change from council tax benefit to localised support are not available. The number of people affected will depend on the decisions by local authorities about the design of their schemes.
	We estimate that 660,000 claimants will be affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy in the social rented sector and the average loss in benefit is £14.00 per week.
	Details are contained in the impact assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the number of households in Nottingham affected by the under-occupancy penalty which include a person with a disability;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the number of single parent households in Nottingham that will be affected by the under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available at local authority level.
	Both the impact of the removal of the spare room subsidy at a regional level, on people with a disability and with varying family circumstances in Great Britain can be found in the Equality Impact Assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011.pdf

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the number of households in Nottingham which include children that will be affected by the under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available at a local authority level.
	The numbers of affected claimants in Great Britain with children are given in the Impact Assessment at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of how many (a) disabled, (b) single-parent and (c) foster carer households will be affected by the under-occupancy penalty in the London Borough of Southwark.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available at a local authority level.
	Estimated numbers of affected claimants in Great Britain where either the claimant or their partner will be disabled and who will be single parents are given in the equality impact assessment at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011.pdf
	The Department estimates that fewer than 5,000 affected claimants in Great Britain will be foster carers.

Invalid Vehicles

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mobility scooters have been repossessed since 2007.

Esther McVey: Information on how many mobility scooters have been repossessed since 2007 is not held by the Government as Motability is an independent charitable organisation, wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme.
	Any questions concerning Motability can be sent to: Declan O'Mahony, Director, Motability, Warwick House, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex CM19 5PX.

Jobcentre Plus

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with jobcentre staff on the practical implementation of the changes to the benefit system in April 2013.

Mark Hoban: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), visits and meets staff at Job Centres on a regular basis where a range of issues are discussed.

Jobcentre Plus

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support his Department has made available to jobcentres to assist with changes to the benefit system in April 2013.

Mark Hoban: There are many activities under way to support jobcentre staff with the introduction of universal credit. Jobcentre staff have been involved in the design and development of the service and are also involved in local implementation planning activities. Specific examples include, role specific staff training, an online knowledge management system, and a comprehensive internal communications plan. We also have a network of specialists to provide support for staff as they prepare for the delivery of change at a local level.

Jobcentre Plus

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many assaults have been recorded against jobcentre staff by claimants in each month since October 2011.

Mark Hoban: All incidents of Unacceptable Customer Behaviour (UCB) on DWP premises are treated seriously. We actively encourage the reporting of such incidents when they occur.
	Actual assaults are categorised into three key areas:
	No injury/no injury recorded/Less than Cuts and Bruises
	Cuts and Bruises
	More than Cuts and Bruises
	Actual Assaults recorded against DWP Staff in Jobcentres October 2011 to January 2013 as recorded at 7 March 2013 are as follows:
	
		
			 Month No injury/Not recorded Cuts and bruises More than cuts and bruises Total 
			 October 2011 17 2 0 19 
			 November 2011 25 0 3 28 
			 December 2011 18 0 0 18 
			 January 2012 10 1 0 11 
			 February 2012 18 0 1 19 
		
	
	
		
			 March 2012 17 1 0 18 
			 April 2012 14 1 0 15 
			 May 2012 20 0 0 20 
			 June 2012 20 1 0 21 
			 July 2012 29 3 0 32 
			 August 2012 21 1 0 22 
			 September 2012 12 2 0 14 
			 October 2012 22 4 3 29 
			 November 2012 21 4 1 26 
			 December 2012 14 2 1 17 
			 January 2013 20 3 3 26 
			 Total 298 25 12 335

Jobseeker's Allowance

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants for jobseeker’s allowance have been sanctioned for non-compliance in the last 12 months; how many such people speak English as a second language; and how many such claimants had moved to jobseeker’s allowance from income support or disability-related benefits.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many claimants for jobseeker’s allowance have been sanctioned for non-compliance in the last 12 months are provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of individuals with a jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) sanction applied in Great Britain: 22 October 2011 to 21 October 2012 
			  Total 
			 Number of individuals with a JSA sanction applied 540,610 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. The number of sanctions applied is the number of referrals where there has been an adverse decision. 3. The number of sanctions applied is the number of varied, fixed length and entitlement decision referrals where there has been an adverse decision. 4. ‘Varied length sanctions’: A sanction of between one week and 26 weeks is imposed for leaving employment voluntarily without just cause, refusing employment without good cause, or losing employment through misconduct. The actual period in each case is at the discretion of the adjudication officer who makes the decision. 5. ‘Fixed length sanctions’: A sanction of between one week and 26 weeks is imposed for refusal, without good cause, to attend an employment programme or carry out a jobseeker’s direction. Payment of benefit continues in full pending the adjudication officer’s decision on a sanction question. 6. ‘Entitlement decisions’: These are questions on which entitlement to JSA depends. For example, if there is doubt around whether the jobseeker’s agreement (JSAg) is suitable, whether they are actively looking for work or making themselves available for work. In most cases, payment of JSA will be suspended by benefit processing until the doubt is resolved. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: JSA Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database. 
		
	
	Statistics on how many such people speak English as a second language; and how many such claimants had moved to jobseeker’s allowance from income support or disability-related benefits are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Marks and Spencer: Asbestos

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which meetings (a) he and (b) officials in his Department (i) have had and (ii) plan to have with representatives from Marks and Spencer plc Group to discuss the possible asbestos-related dangers to (A) the workforce, (B) customers and (C) products in all Marks and Spencer stores in the UK; and if he has received any assurances that all Marks and Spencer stores are now compliant with asbestos-related regulations in the workplace.

Mark Hoban: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), has not met with Marks and Spencer plc or discussed with them their arrangements for managing asbestos.
	Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials met with senior Marks and Spencer staff on 28 November 2011, and received assurances about the company's future management of asbestos-related issues. HSE has not had further cause for concern in this area since that time.

New Enterprise Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will review the current situation of excluding new enterprise allowance to claimants of employment and support allowance.

Mark Hoban: On 18 February 2013, eligibility for the new enterprise allowance was extended to employment and support allowance claimants in the Work Related Activity Group.

Pensions

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) are and (b) have been members of pension schemes which are contracted out of the state second pension or SERPS in the (i) private and (ii) public sector.

Steve Webb: The latest data (DWP statistics ‘Second Tier Pension Provision 2010/11’) relates to the tax year 2010-11. The following table shows the numbers of people contracted out in selected years, split between public and private sector provision.
	
		
			 Second tier pension provision: people contracted out 
			 Mllion 
			  Private sector Public sector Total 
			 1980-81 5.9 3.8 9.7 
			 1985-86 5.2 4.0 9.2 
			 1990-91 9.4 3.9 13.3 
			 1995-96 8.0 3.9 12.0 
			 2000-01 7.7 4.4 12.0 
			 2005-06 5.0 5.0 10.0 
			 2010-11 3.0 5.0 8.0 
		
	
	In total 60% of the contracted out years since 1978 have been in the private sector and 40% in the public sector.
	The majority of people approaching state pension age have been contracted out at some point in their working lives, many in private sector pension schemes. In 2017-18, of the people due to reach state pension age over the following 20 years, around 80% will have been contracted out at some point in their working lives.
	Sources:
	1. DWP Lifetime Labour Market Database (L2) 1% sample of the National Insurance Recording System.
	2. DWP Pensim2 modelling

Remploy: Motherwell

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former employees of the Remploy factory in Motherwell have found work in the last six months.

Esther McVey: There were 20 disabled employees in the Motherwell factory and all are choosing to work with our personal case workers to find another job. Three jobs have been found for these employees since they were made redundant and currently three people are in work, and all are participating in the Work Choice programme. A further ten disabled former Remploy workers from Motherwell are being helped by Work Choice, through which they are undertaking training and other activities aimed at moving them closer to employment.

Social Security Benefits

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 561W, on Social Security Benefits: Greater London, which other local authorities in the UK are deemed to have all three major local authority IT systems.

Mark Hoban: There are no local authorities who use all three of the major local authority IT systems.
	The number of local authorities by system are as follows:
	
		
			 Local authority IT supplier Number of local authorities supported 
			 Northgate 172 
			 Civica 69 
			 Capita 139

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will conduct an assessment of the proposal in Responsible Recovery: A social contract for local growth, published by Respublica on 4 March 2013, that his Department should modify the benefit sanctions regime to encourage claimants to take-up stepping-stone jobs, placements with community organisations or informal unpaid work.

Mark Hoban: The universal credit work search regime actively supports claimant participation in voluntary work, recognising the value such work can have in building skills and experience. The recently published regulations explain that we normally require a claimant to be engaged full time in looking and preparing for work and that voluntary work can count for up to 50% of that time (and of course individuals can do more if they wish). Claimants may also be given a longer period of time to attend an interview or take up paid work if they are already carrying out voluntary work.
	Universal credit will also allow people who work to keep some of the money that they earn before it has any impact on the amount of universal credit they receive. This amount is called a work allowance. Universal credit will have a single taper rate of 65%. For people who are working, financial support will be reduced at a consistent and predictable rate and they will generally keep a higher proportion of their earnings. It will be much easier for people who are working or who are considering a job to see clearly how much financial support they will receive and to understand the advantages of work.

Social Security Benefits

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities using the simple payment system to ensure that people receive their entitlements without delay.

Steve Webb: Local authorities do not use the simple payment system for the benefits they administer. Simple payment is an initiative involving DWP, the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (part of the Ministry of Defence), and the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency.
	A fact sheet about simple payment has been produced for local authority representatives who may act as casual carers and collect entitlements on behalf of a beneficiary. This fact sheet has been shared with representatives from the Local Government Association (LGA).

Social Security Benefits

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what reports are provided to his Department by Citibank and PayPoint on problems notified to them by people using the simple payment system.

Steve Webb: Problems reported to the Citi customer helpline are analysed and discussed between DWP and Citi on a daily basis until the issue is satisfactorily resolved.
	Monthly reports on the number of official complaints about the simple payment service are provided to DWP by Citi who are the prime contractor.

Social Security Benefits

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are registered to use the simple payment system in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.

Steve Webb: The information is not available to the level of detail requested. At the beginning of March 2013 around 55,000 people across the UK were being paid using the simple payment service.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he first received advice that Romanians and Bulgarians could claim welfare benefits if they came to reside in the UK.

Mark Hoban: Bulgarian and Romanian nationals have been able to exercise free movement rights within the EU since their countries' accession in 2007. Under the transitional arrangements which were put in place at the time of their accession they are only entitled to claim some income-related benefits if they are self-employed or registered under the worker authorisation scheme.
	Contributory benefits, such as contribution-based jobseeker's allowance, are payable to anyone who satisfies the contribution and other conditions for the benefit, regardless of nationality.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will limit the financial rate of benefit entitlement for eligible EU nationals to the rates equivalent to those obtainable in their own countries.

Mark Hoban: The social security position of people who move between the countries of the European Economic Area including Switzerland is governed by the EU regulations which provide for coordination of social security systems. These rules apply equally to both UK and EEA nationals who work or reside in another member state.
	When an EU citizen is subject to the legislation of a member state, it is the rate of benefit in that country which applies. To use the rate of the person's member state of origin would mean paying lower amounts in some cases; but would also mean paying considerably higher amounts in other cases. It would also mean breaking the link between the contributions that a person has paid and the level of benefits.

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 560W, on Social Security Benefits: Greater London, what the average size of each household affected by the benefit cap is in the London borough of (a) Bromley, (b) Croydon, (c) Enfield and (d) Haringey.

Mark Hoban: Please see the following table showing the size of an average family for both lone parent households and couple households affected by the benefit cap in (i) Bromley, (ii) Croydon, (iii) Enfield and (iv) Haringey.
	
		
			 Local authority Lone parent Couple with children 
			 Bromley 4 5 
			 Croydon 5 6 
			 Enfield 5 6 
			 Haringey 5 5 
			 Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest person. 
		
	
	The figures presented above are consistent with the Impact Assessment published on 16 July 2012. The figures in the table assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. The Department is identifying and writing to all the households who are likely to be affected by the cap and we are offering advice and support through Jobcentre Plus, including, where appropriate, early access to the Work programme before the cap is introduced in April 2013.

Unemployment Benefits

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people claiming out of work benefits because of mental or psychological health problems in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Hoban: It is not possible to provide statistics on all out of work benefits as disease codes are only recorded for employment support allowance (ESA) and incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance (IB/SDA). ESA figures are available only from November 2008. Figures on the number of people with mental and behavioural disorders can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authority interventions in tackling youth unemployment.

Mark Hoban: We are tackling youth unemployment by providing support to young people through Jobcentre Plus, the Work programme and the Youth Contract. Many local authorities contribute to the success of these measures and often provide valuable additional help to meet the needs of their local areas.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 654W, on universal credit, when the computer technology to support the universal credit programme will be introduced; and when the IT testing programme will be complete.

Mark Hoban: The IT to support universal credit will roll out on an incremental basis, with the first element of supporting IT from April 2013 to support the limited Pathfinder roll out.
	Testing for the Pathfinder, including the interactions with HMRC RTI and existing DWP assets, will complete in April 2013, but there will be an ongoing programme of IT testing as DWP incrementally delivers more IT functions between 2013 and 2017.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what additional resources are being made available to deal with computer access for the introduction of universal credit in (a) areas of low functional literacy and (b) where English is a second language.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit has developed its online service using customer insight and work to determine claimant needs. The design has been user tested as it has developed with existing claimants and staff in order to continually improve and create an easy to use online service.
	Universal credit is developing all its products using the DWP guidelines for level of literacy required of between 9 and 13 years of age and to be compliant with disability legislation. We are also taking the opportunity to simplify the language we use and will provide appropriate support for those who need it.

Universal Credit

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether universal credit will automatically enrol eligible students for free school meals.

Mark Hoban: No. Universal credit will replace many of the benefits which currently allow access to free school meals but the processes for claiming will not change. The administration of free school meals is the responsibility of the Department for Education.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with providers of exempt accommodation about how housing support will be funded under universal credit; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced at the Select Committee hearing last year that help with housing costs for those living in supported exempt accommodation will be provided outside universal credit, on much the same basis as now, until a more permanent solution is put in place.
	The objective of these arrangements is to protect the income streams of providers from any unintended consequences of welfare reform. Ministers and officials continue to meet with representatives of supported housing providers to ensure that this objective is achieved.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has ceased funding the work of any of the firms working on the universal credit IT system; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Work continues on all our contracts in support of universal credit.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has paid to contractors in respect of work on the universal credit IT system in each month since July 2010; and how much he expects to pay in this fashion in each of the next six months.

Mark Hoban: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to his previous question (PQ 129855) on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 145W. Additional spend since that answer up to and including February 2013 amounts to some £79 million. Future payments will reflect the contractual arrangements with each supplier and will be drawn down as appropriate as suppliers support the delivery of the universal credit pathfinder in April, and the progressive national roll-out from October 2013.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to secure the timely delivery of the universal credit IT system.

Mark Hoban: The IT system to support the limited pathfinder roll-out from April 2013 is currently in the final stages of testing and on track to complete by mid-April 2013. IT testing reports are produced daily and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith) receives regular progress updates.

Universal Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of cyber security measures relating to universal credit.

Mark Hoban: The Department is working continually with experts across Government to ensure the security arrangements for universal credit operate effectively in the interests of both the taxpayer and claimants.
	For obvious reasons, it would not be in the public interest to disclose what those arrangements are.

Work Capability Assessment

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether people in the employment and support allowance support group are automatically called for a reassessment when they choose to undertake voluntary work-related activity.

Mark Hoban: Following the work capability assessment a DWP Decision Maker will decide when the claimant will next be reassessed, taking into account all of the available evidence. Where a person in the support group chooses to undertake voluntary work-related activity they will not automatically be called for reassessment as a result of that.

Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the report Hidden talents II: re-engaging young people, the local offer published by the Local Government Association in January 2013; and what consideration he has given to accepting the recommendations in that report.

Mark Hoban: The Local Government Association's Hidden talents II report is currently being considered. Departmental officials will be having separate meetings with LGA representatives later in the month to discuss its recommendations.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many residents of Brigg and Goole constituency completed a course at an adult education college in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Table 1 shows adult (19+) Government-funded Further Education and Skills achievement in General Further Education Colleges in Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency for academic years 2007/08 to 2011/12, the latest full year for which final data are available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Adult (19+) Achievement in General Further Education Colleges by Geography, 2007/08 to 2011/12 
			  2007/08 2008/094 2009/10 2010/11 2011/125 
			 Brigg and Goole constituency 1,440 1,660 1,560 1,130 1,390 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner and boundaries of May 2010. 3. These data include adult (aged 19+) Government-funded achievement in Apprenticeships, Workplace Learning, Community Learning and Education and Training provision taken at General Further Education Colleges (including Tertiary) only. 4. Figures for 2008/09 are not directly comparable with earlier years due to a change in funding methodology. Source: Individualised Learner Record 
		
	
	Figures for 2011/12 are not directly comparable to earlier years as a Single Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data collection system has been introduced. Small technical changes have been made in the way learners from more than one provision type are counted, leading to a removal of duplicate learners and a reduction in overall learner numbers of approximately 2%. More information on the Single ILR is available at:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C05DCDD5-67EE-4AD0-88B9-BEBC8F7F3300/0/SILR Effects SFR Learners June12.pdf

Apprentices

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to engage businesses from the most disadvantaged areas in offering apprenticeships.

Matthew Hancock: The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) is responsible for promoting apprenticeships to individuals and employers across England. For example this week is National Apprenticeship Week which provides a platform to increase awareness, understanding and demand for apprenticeships from employers through events being held across the country. NAS is working in particular in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country, targeting additional funding for employer engagement to help to stimulate new apprenticeships, including through measures to promote the benefits of apprenticeships and the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers.

Apprentices

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make it his policy to raise the employer subsidy for businesses that offer apprenticeships in the areas with the highest levels of youth unemployment.

Matthew Hancock: We are already providing a package of support worth almost £1 billion to help employers and young unemployed people prepare for work and find a job. The Apprenticeship Grant for Employers helps smaller employers by providing payments of £1,500 for each new apprentice they take on aged 16 to 24. In addition we are providing 160,000 wage incentives worth up to £2,275 each for those who recruit an 18 to 24-year-old through the Work programme or Jobcentre plus.

Apprentices

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects the qualitative research project he has commissioned to probe the findings of the interim Government evidence to the Low Pay Commission 2012 on apprentices receiving no training or pay to be published; what deadlines or benchmarks he has set for this process; and if he will place a copy of the resulting report in the Library.

Matthew Hancock: The qualitative follow-up research to the 2011 Apprenticeship pay survey “Follow-up Research: Apprentices' Pay, Training and Working Hours” was published in January 2013 at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2011
	We commissioned the research in order to consider further what appeared to be problems of a lack of training and non-compliance with the national minimum wage.
	The Government has recently introduced a number of measures to raise the quality of apprenticeships, and the training apprentices receive; the research will not reflect the impact of these, because it covers training undertaken largely before their implementation.
	We are also developing an approach which maximises the number of people who receive the appropriate national minimum wage rate. The Government supports the national minimum wage and is concentrating its efforts on removing abuse and exploitation. We already follow up every single complaint in this area made on the Pay and Work Rights Helpline that relates to the national minimum wage and we are now seeing how we can improve things still further.

Apprentices

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage further education colleges to work with local businesses and hold apprenticeship careers fairs for prospective students.

Matthew Hancock: The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) is responsible for promoting apprenticeships to individuals and employers across England. NAS and the Skills Funding Agency work with further education colleges across the country to help support their efforts to engage employers and promote apprenticeships. They also work with partners from across education, FE and business to support collaborative efforts to improve the access that young people have to careers advice and apprenticeship information.
	NAS can be contacted via:
	http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/ContactUs.aspx

Apprentices

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many apprenticeships have been undertaken in the automotive industry in each of the last five years; and how many such apprenticeships received Government assistance;
	(2)  how many young people have undertaken apprenticeships in (a) Birmingham and (b) the west midlands in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many people aged 25 and over have undertaken apprenticeships in (a) Birmingham and (b) the west midlands in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by (a) geography and age band and (b) framework (including the automotive industry, vehicle body and paint operations, vehicle fitting, vehicle maintenance and repair, vehicle parts operations and vehicle sales frameworks) is published in supplementary tables to the statistical first release (SFR).
	It is only mandatory for information to be returned on the individualised learner record for Government-funded apprenticeships.
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EAD8024F-3019-4D5C-A6EC-B6241B089862/0/January2013_ApprenticeshipStartsbyGeographyLevelAge.xls
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/69EFC69B-C189-46C4-93C4-6B161D744073/0/January2013_Apprenticeship_Starts.xls

Apprentices

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to ensure that every young person who wants an apprenticeship is able to receive one.

Matthew Hancock: As a demand led programme, growing apprenticeships is dependent on employers coming forward to make opportunities available.
	To encourage employers to do so, we have introduced grants of £1,500(1) to support small employers taking on young apprentices, made it easier and faster than ever before for employers to recruit an apprentice, and offer full funding for apprenticeship training for 16 to 18-year-olds and 50% for those 19-24. And as highlighted this National Apprenticeships Week, the National Apprenticeship Service works to promote apprenticeships to employers and support employers to get involved.
	(1) Grants of £1,500 per apprentice are available. The grant is now available to employers with up to 1,000 employees who have not taken on an apprentice in the previous 12 months, and an employer can claim grants to support up to 10 new apprentices. The scheme has been extended until 31 December 2013.

Apprentices: Greater Manchester

Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many new apprenticeships have been created in (a) Bolton West constituency, (b) Bolton and (c) Wigan for people aged (i) 16 to 18, (ii) 19 to 24 and (iii) over 25 years old in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by parliamentary constituency, local education authority and age are published in a Supplementary Table to a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR).
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EAD8024F-3019-4D5C-A6EC-B6241B089862/0/January2013_ApprenticeshipStartsbyGeographyLevelAge.xls
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/Statistics/fe_data_library/Apprenticeships/

Apprentices: Older People

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many older unemployed people have used apprenticeships to retrain in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such assistance.

Matthew Hancock: Estimates from data matching on the number of apprentices aged 19 to 64 who claimed benefits in the three and six months before starting training is published in table 8 of the following report (2008/09 to 2010/11 academic years), available at:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E14E2EA3-AE7F-4690-8734-345A1E5E2E95/0/FE_and_Benefit_Claims_ Data_Matching_Adhoc_publication_201011.pdf
	The Apprenticeship programme is now a cornerstone of our skills system, evidence shows that apprenticeships deliver economic and social benefits to: individuals in terms of higher wages and improved employment prospects; businesses in the form of higher profits retention, and competitiveness; and the wider economy and society as a whole.
	We will continue to target investment and efforts where it will have the greatest impact and deliver the greatest returns, including younger people (16 to 24), and advanced and higher level qualifications.
	We are currently investigating the impact on the unemployed group and will have further information in the summer.

Broadband

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department's state aid branch has (a) been asked for and (b) given assistance to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in processing its state aid notification for the Super Connected Cities programme.

Jo Swinson: Yes the Department has both been asked for, and has given, assistance. The UK's state aid team in BIS has had regular discussions with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on its plans for broadband roll-out, including the Super Connected Cities programme. And indeed any state aid notification needs to be made to the Commission via this Department.

Business Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many investments have been made to date by the Business Growth Fund; what the value of each individual investment has been; when each such investment was made; and when such funds were drawn down.

Michael Fallon: The Business Growth Fund is an independent privately, run investment fund, Government does not hold details of its investments or details of when funds were drawn down.

Business Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many investments he expects the Business Growth Fund to make in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16; and what the expected total value of these investments will be in each year.

Michael Fallon: The Business Growth Fund (BGF) is an independent privately run investment fund, and Government does not hold details of its investments. At autumn statement 2012, 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, the BGF committed to invest £200 million in 2013 and to increase investment further in 2014.

Business: EU Law

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Prime Minister's speech on Europe delivered in London on 23 January 2013, what the (a) turnover, (b) profits and (c) number of employees are of the smallest entrepreneurial companies which he intends to exempt from future EU directives.

Michael Fallon: In November 2011, the European Commission adopted a report on ‘Minimising regulatory burdens for SMEs: Adapting EU regulation to the needs of micro-enterprises’(1). This included a commitment by the Commission to exclude micro-enterprises from the scope of proposals for EU legislation from 1 January 2012, unless the proportionality of their being covered can be demonstrated. The Commission defines micro-enterprises as the smallest category of small and medium-sized enterprises, with less than 10 employees and a turnover or balance sheet total equal to or less than €2 million.
	The Government is holding the Commission to account on its commitments to reduce unnecessary regulatory costs for small businesses and micro-enterprises. I have emphasised to the Commission on a number of occasions in recent months that it needs to make further concrete proposals to deliver on these commitments.
	(1) http://ec.europa.eu/governance/better_regulation/documents/minimizing_burden_sme_EN.pdf

Business: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 725W, on business: finance, what proportion of funds under the Business Finance Partnership small business tranche have not yet been drawn down.

Michael Fallon: Significant progress has been made in relation to agreeing legal and commercial terms with all four of the selected applicants for the Small Business Tranche of the Business Finance Partnership which were announced in December, and in February we received the parliamentary approval which was required in order to take two of these proposals forward. The process of agreeing legal and commercial terms was complex and took longer than initially expected, which means I now expect the first draw downs to take place this month.

Business: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether a directory of business finance advisers has been launched.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), commissioned Tim Breedon to lead a review of Non-Bank Finance, which reported in March 2012. As part of the review, the main accountancy bodies (the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)) agreed to work together to create a shared scheme which increases the visibility of those accountants which offer advice on finance for smaller businesses. The Government welcomed the Business Finance Advisor Scheme initiative, and the news that as of January 2013 over 1,900 participating offices across the UK have opted to be affiliated with the brand.
	While the scheme is promoted on each of the professional bodies' websites, there is not currently a single directory for Business Finance Advice Service members, although the bodies are working to develop their online sites to make scheme members easily identifiable.
	Businesses seeking advice or to identify participating offices local to them are encouraged to get in touch with the bodies responsible for the Business Finance Advice scheme, via their respective websites:
	http://find.icaew.com/search/bfa/1
	http://icas.org.uk/CADirectory/
	http://www.accaglobal.com/en/sme.html

Construction: Trading Standards

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the quality of service provided by the Trading Standards Institute to consumers complaining of (a) unsafe and (b)sub-standard building work.

Jo Swinson: The Trading Standards Institute is the professional body who represent the interests of trading standards officers across the UK. As such, they do not directly provide advice to consumers on such matters, or take enforcement action against traders.
	Since April 2012 all consumers who are in dispute have been able to call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 08454 04 05 06 or contact them online at:
	www.adviceguide.org.uk
	Whilst they cannot intervene, they can give advice and refer matters to Trading Standards, who can take action on local matters. The quality of this advice is regularly monitored by Citizens Advice.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what evidence the Government has that copies of artistic designs available on the UK market under the provisions of section 52 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 are being manufactured and stored in the UK.

Jo Swinson: Items of replica furniture available on the UK market have been argued to be copies of artistic designs made or imported under the provisions of section 52 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. The evidence which the Government has received, which is not comprehensive, suggests that the manufacture of replica furniture largely takes place overseas, but a certain amount of storage occurs in the UK, whether for direct sale or re-export to other EU member states.
	A paper on the "UK Replica Furniture Industry", produced by Arts Economics in June 2012 and shared with the Government, suggests that there are 60 companies that manufacture, design and sell replica furniture in the UK as their sole product line. Some of these companies may rely on section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act to permit industrial production of artistic designs.
	It is important to note that not all replicas will infringe copyright. Whether a particular work qualifies for copyright protection, and whether a particular replica constitutes an infringement of that copyright, is ultimately a matter for the courts to decide.

Employee Ownership

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 728W, on employee ownership, what guidance the Government plans to provide to assist employers and employees in determining the conditions for buy back; whether any such guidance will include how to establish a fair price in relation to the employee owner status; and what estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of such guidance.

Jo Swinson: Guidance on the gov.uk pages will set out what both an individual and a company would need to think about when considering or offering an employee shareholder employment contract. This will include buyback. It will be for the individual and the company to agree buy back arrangements in the same way as other terms and conditions are agreed in an employment contract.
	There is no estimate of the cost of guidance, but this will be minimal as the guidance on the .gov.uk pages is reviewed and updated regularly to ensure relevant and up to date guidance is available for those seeking it.

Employment: Bradford

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to increase employment opportunities in Bradford.

Michael Fallon: The Bradford City Centre Growth zone has received a £17.6 million grant from the Regional Growth Fund. The Leeds city region local enterprise partnership (LEP), which covers Bradford, also received £15 million from RGF to support its Business Growth Programme.
	Final data for the 2011/12 academic year show that there were 4,950 apprenticeship starts in Bradford local education authority, up by 7.2% on 2010/11 and 82.0% on 2009/10.
	Bradford is supported by a range of other Government growth initiatives. The Leeds city region LEP brings business and civic leaders together to drive sustainable economic growth and create the conditions for private sector job growth. The LEP made a successful bid for a city deal which aims to give cities the powers and tools they need to drive local economic growth.
	We are working together to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth by creating the most competitive tax system in the G20 making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business, encouraging investment and exports and creating a more educated, flexible workforce.

Export Credit Guarantees: Iraq

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what exports are included in the six per cent of Iraq's sovereign debt owed to UK Export Finance listed as being from the miscellaneous sector.

Michael Fallon: The goods and services that make up the 6% of the original Iraq debt categorised as being miscellaneous include: non-woven polypropylene for baby hygiene products; bonded nylon thread for the shoe industry; industrial sewing threads; printers blankets; operating materials for OCE 1700 printer; and wood pulp.

Higher Education: Capital Investment

Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that universities use capital investments for the benefit of the student body and the wider community rather than enhancement of their prestige or status.

David Willetts: Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies. It is for them to decide how they manage their investments and deliver learning to meet the needs of their students. Government cannot intervene in these decisions. In 2008, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) introduced a capital investment framework which all English universities and higher education colleges must participate in to receive capital funding through HEFCE. This framework includes consideration of how staff and student surveys relate to the fitness for purpose of the infrastructure, involving students in the formulation of capital projects and estates strategies and public reporting of environmental performance.

Industry

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress he is making on the development of an over-arching industrial strategy; and what sections within that strategy will be the subject of specific strategies.

Michael Fallon: The Government's work on industrial strategy is a long-term, whole of Government approach to build business confidence and give greater certainty to drive investment. It has partnership with business at its heart.
	This work is currently focused on five key themes: sectors, technologies, access to finance, skills and procurement. We expect to publish 11 sector strategies by the summer, in Agri-tech, Aerospace, Automotive, Construction, Education, Information Economy, Life Sciences, Nuclear, Offshore Wind, Oil and Gas, and Professional Business Services.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the London Local Enterprise Partnership; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The London Enterprise Panel, which is the LEP for London, is an advisory body for, and formally accountable to, the Mayor.
	However I have recently written to the London LEP, jointly with the Minister for Housing, my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk), about progress on their growth plan and allocation of Growing Places Funding and we have received reassurances on progress from the Mayor.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who the (a) Stream 1 and (b) Stream 2 winners under Rounds 1 and 2 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain initiative are.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable)’s Written Ministerial Statements to the House on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 1WS and 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 31WS.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when bidding for funds under (a) Round 3 and (b) Round 4 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain initiative will open and close; by what date he expects winning bidders to complete due diligence processes; and when he expects winning bidders to draw down funds.

Michael Fallon: Rounds 3 and 4 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative open for applications from 21 March 2013. The Round 3 deadline is noon on 29 May 2013 and the Round 4 deadline is noon on 16 October 2013. We estimate that the successful companies will be able to begin drawing down their funding within six months of the relevant competition closing date. Successful companies can also help speed up this timetable by responding fully and promptly to requests for information from Finance Birmingham during the due diligence process.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether all funds under (a) Round 1, (b) Round 2 and (c) Stream 2 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain initiative have been allocated.

Michael Fallon: Up to £100 million was available for Stream 1 Rounds 1 and 2 for collaborative projects with a sectoral level impact. There was high demand for this type of funding with over 50 bids with a total funding ask in excess of £350 million. Some of the successful projects subsequently withdrew during the due diligence stage; underspend of £6.5 million will now be added to the available funding for Rounds 3 and 4.
	Up to £25 million was available for Stream 2 local projects based in the four participating local enterprise partnership (LEPs) areas—Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham and Solihull, and Liverpool city region. The four LEPs will be launching a further bidding round next month to allocate the remaining £19 million.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  when he expects funds to be made available for winning bidders under Round 2 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain initiative; and for due diligence to be complete;
	(2)  when he expects winning bidders under Round 2 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative to provide agreement for due diligence to begin; and when any such due diligence will be completed.

Michael Fallon: Over half of the Round 2 winners have already given their agreement for due diligence to begin, and we expect this process to be complete in the coming weeks. Successful companies can also help speed up this timetable by responding fully and promptly to requests for information from Finance Birmingham during the due diligence process.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what role the Technology Strategy Board has in delivering the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain initiative.

Michael Fallon: The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) runs the initial stages of the competitions for the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative on behalf of the Department and Birmingham city council. Companies submit their applications through the TSB's online portal, and the TSB then co-ordinates the assessment of these applications against the set criteria.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) bids and (b) expressions of interest were received under Round 2 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.

Michael Fallon: 41 bids were received under Round 2 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative with a total funding ask of over £300 million. We do not formally collect expressions of interest for this scheme.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to his answer of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 487W, on manufacturing industries, how many projects under the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative Round 1 (a) have not yet completed due diligence, (b) have not yet provided their agreement for due diligence to begin and (c) have lost their funding allocations as a result of failing to provide necessary documentation.

Michael Fallon: The majority of Round 1 projects have successfully completed due diligence and have now commenced. Due diligence is still under way on two Stream 2 (local funding pot) projects, and a further three Stream 2 projects have withdrawn their applications after receiving their initial conditional offer letters.

Manufacturing Industries

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills from which round or rounds of the Regional Growth Fund funding has been channelled to the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.

Michael Fallon: In Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fund, the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative received £70 million. At the same time it also received a further £55 million in BIS funding.
	The Government announced additional funding of £120 million for two further rounds of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative in the 2012 Autumn Statement. This will be funded directly by BIS and HMT, and not through the Regional Growth Fund.

Mersey Gateway Project

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport over the sourcing of construction materials for the Mersey Gateway from the UK.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has had no discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), on this matter.

Overseas Students: Entry Clearances

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the benefit to the economy of a relaxation of the rule requiring international students to secure a graduate job paying at least £20,000 before being allowed to stay in the UK.

David Willetts: No assessment has been made by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on any economic impact that would result from a relaxation of the Tier 2 regulations. The Migration Advisory Committee published their report on the review of the Tier 2 Codes of Practice in December 2012 and recommended that salaries for experienced and less experienced Tier 2 migrants be set at the 25th and 10th percentile of earnings respectively. Changes to the Codes of Practice will come into force on 6 April 2013.

Overseas Trade

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with which 10 countries UK trade has decreased or increased the least in (a) percentage and (b) absolute terms in the last year.

Michael Fallon: Data on UK trade in goods with all countries is published by HM Revenue and Customs on their website at
	www.uktradeinfo.com
	in their “Overseas Trade Statistics” publication. Latest data are for 2012.
	Data on UK trade in services with all countries (with a value of more than £500,000) is published by the Office for National Statistics in their “Pink Book 2012” publication on their website
	www.ons.gov.uk
	Latest data are for 2011. Data for 2012 are due for publication in July 2013.

Overseas Trade: Burma

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential trade opportunities in Burma.

Michael Fallon: Since the suspension of EU sanctions in April 2012, the British Government has made a commitment to promoting responsible trade and investment in support of Burma's democratic reform process. The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) office in Rangoon opened in July 2012 and provides support to British companies looking to export or invest in the country.
	UKTI are currently carrying out a mapping exercise to identify where these opportunities best match British business excellence. Initial results of this exercise indicate that there are early opportunities in the energy, power generation, telecoms, financial services and education/training sectors. UKTI are also working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to understand and support the economic reform process; this will allow UKTI to better advise British business on the opportunities in Burma.
	UKTI can offer practical support and advice to British companies who are interested in the opportunities in Burma, details can be found on the UKTI website along with FCO political and economic updates. The British Government urges all UK companies entering Burma to abide by international standards of corporate governance and social and environmental responsibility. In particular, this means adhering to the OECD guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Procurement

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of his Department and its agencies' procurement contracts were won by small and medium-sized businesses in 2012-13.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is not in a position to be able to identify what proportion of procurement contracts were won by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2012-13.
	What we can provide is the data which identifies the percentage by value of business placed with SMEs. This information is collected across government and is the current metric used to measure performance against the target of 25% of activity with SMEs.
	Between April 2012 and December 2012 a figure of 36% by value was achieved.
	This information has been collated from the following entities:
	Department for Business Innovation and Skills
	Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service
	Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
	Higher Education Funding Council for England
	Intellectual Property Office
	National Measurement Office
	Skills Funding Agency
	Student Loans Company
	UK Trade and Investment Administration, including the UK Space Agency,
	RCUK and the seven research councils
	Insolvency service.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department's other executive agencies (Companies House, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, and the Land Registry) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
	Letter from Ann Lewis, dated 7 March 2013
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 1 March 2013, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UIN 146503.
	The proportion of Companies House's procurement contracts won by small and medium-sized businesses in 2012/13 was 32%.
	Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence, dated 5 March 2013
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to reply to you in response to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills "what proportion of his Department and its agencies' procurement contracts were won by small and medium-sized businesses in 2012-13?"
	Ordnance Survey has awarded 26 procurement contracts under a competitive tender process to small and medium-sized businesses in 2012-13 to date, amounting to 60% of the total number of such contracts awarded in the period. The aggregate value of these contracts is £2,276,732, 26% of the total value of contracts awarded in the period.
	To provide a more complete picture, I can add that the total value of all purchase orders placed with small and medium-sized businesses in 2012-13 to date is £15,561,257, amounting to 40% of the total value of purchase orders placed in the period.
	I hope this information is of use.
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 4 March 2013
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 1 March 2013, UIN 146503 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	During 2012-13 to date, 21 per cent of the contracts placed by the Met Office were awarded to small and medium-sized businesses.
	I hope this helps.
	Letter from Heather Foster, dated 4 March 2013
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 146503 tabled on 1 March 2013 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of his Department and its agencies' procurement contracts were won by small and medium-sized businesses in 2012-13.
	For the period April-December 2012, the proportion of procurement contracts directly awarded to small and medium-sized businesses by Land Registry was 3%.
	Final quarter's statistics covering January-March 2013 will not be available until April 2013.
	I hope you find this information useful.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he expects the process of allocating funds to firms under the Exceptional Regional Growth Fund to be initiated by (a) bidding firms and (b) Ministers in his Department.

Michael Fallon: As with open rounds of the Regional Growth Fund, bids for exceptional support will be initiated by firms or organisations.

Regional Growth Fund

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether decisions on Round 4 bids for the Regional Growth Fund will favour groups with links to local enterprise partnerships.

Michael Fallon: The criteria and objectives for Round 4 remain the same as in previous rounds. The Regional Growth Fund will provide support for private sector investments and private public partnerships. Groups with links to local enterprise partnerships will continue to be welcome to bid but will not be subject to different criteria from other bidders.

Regulation

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of his Department's impact assessments for regulatory or deregulatory proposals have been ruled not fit for purpose by the Regulatory Policy Committee.

Jo Swinson: The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) was established in December 2009 to review the analysis and evidence supporting regulatory proposals. From the beginning of 2011, each of the opinions on impact assessments has been prefaced with a Red (‘not fit for purpose’), or Amber or Green (‘fit for purpose’) rating. A new streamlined system was introduced in August 2012 to speed up the implementation of deregulatory measures and to apply a more proportionate approach to low cost (less than £1 million) regulatory measures. Consequently opinions for deregulatory and low cost measures are now no longer issued and the results are no longer directly comparable across the time series. BIS' performance is listed in the following table:
	
		
			 Period RPC opinions Fit for purpose Red opinions 
			 January to December 2011 75 58 (77%) 17 (23%) 
			 January to August 2012 82 69 (84%) 13 (16%) 
			 August 2012 to February 2013 19 18 (99%) 1 (1%) 
		
	
	RPC annual reports can be accessed from the following link:
	http://regulatorypolicycommittee.independent.gov.uk/reports

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff from business and industry outside the public sector are currently on secondment to his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has a number of people on secondment from a variety of organisations, reflecting the varied work of the Department. There are currently 13 people on secondment from business and industry and a further 15 from other public sector bodies and education institutions.
	I have asked chief executives of the executive agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Neil Hartley, dated 6 March 2013
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 5 March 2013, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UIN 146975.
	Companies House does not have any staff from business and industry outside the public sector currently on secondment to it.
	Letter from Richard Judge, dated 8 March 2013
	The Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question, how many staff from (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible are currently on secondment to business and industry outside the public sector.
	As at 7 March 2013, no staff from The Insolvency Service were on secondment to business and industry outside the public sector.
	Letter from John Alty, dated 6 March 2013
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 5 March 2013, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Intellectual Property Office is an executive agency of BIS. We do not currently have any staff on secondment here from business and industry outside the public sector.
	Letter from Peter Mason, dated 7 March 2013
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 5 March 2013, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about the number of staff from business and industry outside the public sector currently on secondment.
	NMO has no staff from business and industry outside the public sector who are currently on secondment.
	Letter from Kim Thorneywork, dated 11 March 2013
	Thank you for your question in asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff from business and industry outside the public sector are currently on secondment to his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.
	Please be advised that the Skills Funding Agency currently has no staff seconded to the Agency from business and industry outside the public sector.
	Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, dated 6 March 2013
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to reply to you in response to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills “how many staff from business and industry outside the public sector are currently on secondment to his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible”?
	Ordnance Survey has no staff from business and industry outside the public sector on secondment to the organisation. However, one member of staff is on secondment to the organisation from GeoPlace, a Limited Liability Partnership between Ordnance Survey and Local Government Group.
	I hope this information is of use.
	Letter from David Parker, dated 6 March 2013
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff from business and industry outside the public sector are currently on secondment to his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible. (146975)
	The UK Space Agency has currently a 0.5 FTE on secondment from industry, who works for the agency on an expenses only basis.
	Letter from John Hirst
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 5 March 2013, UIN 146975 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	There are no staff from business and industry outside the public sector currently on secondment to the Met Office. However we have a large number of staff with considerable private sector experience.
	I hope this helps.
	Letter from Heather Foster, dated 6 March 2013
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 146975 tabled on 5 March 2013 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff from business and industry outside the public sector are currently on secondment to his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.
	Land Registry does not have anyone currently on secondment from business and industry outside the public sector.
	I hope you find this information useful.

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff from (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible are currently on secondment to business and industry outside the public sector.

Jo Swinson: Staff from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills undertake a number of secondments to a variety of organisations reflecting the nature of the work of the Department. There are currently five staff on secondment to business and industry; a further 10 on secondment to other public sector organisations; five on secondment to European institutions and one person seconded to a third sector organisation.
	I have asked chief executives of the executive agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.